THE BIBL 

AS IT IS 




ALEXANDER PATTERSON 









Class . 



jfi.£Lfc £. 



Book_ .Tffif 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 






The Bible As It Is 



A Simple Method of Mastering and 
Understanding the Bible 



ILLUSTRATED BY DIAGRAMS AND CHARTS 



By REV. ALEXANDER PATTERSON 

AUTHOR OF "THE GREATER LIFE AND WORK OF CHRIST,* * "THE OTHER 
SIDE OF EVOLUTION," "BIBLE MANUAL** 



GENESIS TO JUDGES 



THE WINONA- PUBLISHING CO. 
CHICAGO 



3S(co5- 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS! 
Two Copies Received j 
JAN 2 1907 
A Copyright Entry 

CLASS A XXc.No. 

COPY B. ' 



COPYRIGHT 

BY THE WINONA PUBLISHING CO, 

PUBLISHED 1906 



PREFACE 

The title of this book gives its position, its purpose 
and its method. It is a presentation of the Bible 
upon its own claims for itself and as we have it. The 
first essential to any one entering upon the study of 
the Bible either as friend or foe, is to ascertain ex- 
actly what the Bible says and means. We here take 
the Bible as we have it. We are assured by scholars 
that our English versions of the Bible are sufficiently 
accurate for all practical purposes. It is also safe to 
say that no material change of language, statement or 
teaching will ever take place in the Bible. The books 
will always come as they do now and the contents 
remain essentially as they are. Hence it is safe and 
proper to learn the Bible as it is. It is the con- 
viction of the author that a fair inquiry as to the 
actual statements and teachings of the Bible will go 
far to clear up many if not all of the difficulties the 
student meets. 

The great purpose of all Bible study should be 
Spiritual effect. Without this all else is " sounding 
brass and clanging cymbal." It is the kind of study 
Christ rebuked in the Scribes and Pharisees when he 
said "Ye search the Scriptures because in them ye 
think ye have eternal life, and these are they which 

3 



4 Preface 

bear witness of me; and ye will not come to me that 
ye may have life." There is to-day much Bible study 
that is as truly " pharisaical " as ever practiced in 
Jewish circles of old, while the food for the soul is 
neglected. It is the latter the rank and file of the 
army of God need. Not one in a* thousand cares for 
these minute points of origin, date, etc., but all do 
want comfort in sorrow, deliverance from sin, and in 
death hope and assurance. These are the blessings 
the Bible is intended to convey and without which 
Bible study is disappointing. 

The heart is a truer guide than the head, and the 
great mass of the church remain convinced that they 
are still justified in taking the Bible as it is. Certain 
it is that on the objector rests the burden of showing 
otherwise. 

The plan of these studies is to present the great 
lines of narrative doctrine and spiritual life upon 
which the Bible is laid out. First the whole is given 
at a glance, then the great parts of the structure are 
given each in a similar view, then the books and 
smaller divisions. Much of the study of the day is 
" scrappy" and disconnected and no general or broad 
idea of the whole divine plan is obtained. It is the 
plan here to present the mountain peaks of Bible 
narrative and to view the whole as centered about 
these in a succession of bird's-eye studies. This is 
the natural method. We remember history by great 
men, events and epochs. While it may be the duty of 



Preface 5 

some to study more closely it is not in the power of 
the many to do so, nor is it necessary save for spe- 
cial lessons or purposes. 

Simplicity is one great purpose kept in mind. While 
the average of intellectual condition of our day is 
high the state of Bible knowledge has not kept pace 
therewith. The tests applied to the advanced classes 
in some of our colleges have shown a lamentable defi- 
ciency in the elementary knowledge of Scripture. If 
this state exists in such circles it is more common 
among these who are in active business life. The aim 
here is to so present the Bible that it will be easily 
understood by the average mind. The Diagrams 
and Charts are designed for this purpose. They have 
been tested in hundreds of classes and found effect- 
ive. Pastors and teachers will find in these studies 
what is needed for popular Bible classes. The Dia- 
grams should be reproduced on the blackboard, 
accompaning them by the necessary explanation. 
The old chronology is used simply because it is access- 
ible to all and the differences are not important, 
in the historical books at least, and where accuracy 
is necessary it may be secured later. Dates are given 
also in round numbers. 

These studies are designed to accompany the Sun- 
day School Lessons, and will furnish either an advanced 
course or a parallel course uniting the lessons, which 
are more or less disconnected, into one and a logical 
and systematic course. 



Preface 



The present volume is a revision and enlargement 
of a former volume under another title the reception 
of which has encouraged the author to thus enlarge 
it and present it under a more suitable title. It is 
sent out with the hope that it will aid in the knowledge 
of "the Bible as it is." 

We are in the day of Bible study. Ten million 
copies are now made and sold every year. The wisest 
of the world confess its value. Ruskin said the best 
part of his education was the chapters his mother 
taught him. Sir Edwin Arnold said he owed his edu- 
cation to the Bible more than to any other hundred 
books. Dr. Richard G. Moulton has said: " We have 
done almost everything that is possible with these 
Hebrew and Greek writings. We have overlaid them, 
clause by clause, with exhaustive commentaries; we 
have translated them, revised the translations, and 
quarreled over the revisions; have discussed authen- 
ticity and inspiration, and suggested textual history 
with colored type; we have mechanically divided the 
whole into chapters and verses, and sought texts to 
memorize and quote; we have epitomized into hand- 
books and extracted school lessons; we have recast 
from the feminine point of view, and even from the 
standpoint of the next century. There is yet one 
thing left to do with the Bible: simply to read it." 
We add to this, and to read it as it is. This is the 
purpose of this series of studies. 

Alexander Patterson. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER I. 

Introductory. 

Method of Study, 13. How and Why We Believe the 
Bible, 15. Testimony of Christ to the Scriptures, 15. 
The Bible is Authentic, 17. The Bible True- 
External Evidences, 20. Internal Evidences, 23. 
The Bible Inspired, 24. How the Bible Came, 
27. New Testament Inspiration, 32. How to Un- 
derstand the Bible, 33. What to Look for in Bible 
Study, 35. 

CHAPTER II. 

BirdVEye Views of the Bible. 

The Whole Bible, 37. Lines of Unity in the Bible, 44. 
Lines of Diversity, 45. Lines of Development, 47. 
Full View of the Bible, 48. A View of the Old 
Testament, 50. Genesis, 52. 

7 



8 Contents 

CHAPTER III. 

The Creation. 

Outline, 57. The Godhead in Creation, 58. Extent 
of the Six Days' Creation, 59. State of the Earth 
before the Six Days' Creation, 60. The Six Days' 
Creation, 62. Method of Creation, 66. Creation 
of Man, 67. Agreement with Science, 71. Spirit- 
ual Lessons of Creation, 75. The New Creation^. 

CHAPTER IV. 

Eden and the Fall. 

Truth of the Narrative, 78. Eden and Original Man, 
79. The Probation, 81. The Tempter, 83. The 
Temptation, 84. The Sin, 86. The Judgment, 88. 
Consequences of the Fall, 89. Redemption, 91. 
Spiritual Teaching, 92. 

CHAPTER V. 

The Deluge. 

Story of Adam's Family, 94. Table of the Races of 
Seth and Cain, 96. Commingling of the two Races, 
98. God's Attitude Towards That Age, 100. Evi- 
dences and Extent of the Deluge, 104. Causes of 
the Deluge, 104. Chronology of the Deluge, 105. 
Lessons, 105. 



Contents 9 

CHAPTER VI. 

Origin of the Nations. 

The Sons of Noah, 1 1 1 . The Dispersion, 114. Table 
of the Nations, 116. 

CHAPTER VII. 

Abraham. 

Abraham's Place and Reality, 121. Descent and 
Table of Ancestry, 122. History, 123. The Cov- 
enant, 125. Place and Character, 129. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Jacob. 

Isaac, 134. Jacob's Place, 134. History, 136. 
Character, 138. Sons, 139. 

CHAPTER IX. 

Joseph. 

Joseph's History, 142. Place in Israel, 144. Joseph 
Prophetically and Typically, 144. 

CHAPTER X. 

The Exodus. 

Israel's State in Egypt, 148. Moses, 150. Pharoah 
and the Plagues, 152. The Passover, 154. The 
Exodus, 155. 



io Contents 

CHAPTER XI. 

The Wilderness Journey. 

The Books of the Journey, 158. Map of the Journey, 
159. Egypt to Sinai, 160. Sinai, 160. Sinai to 
Canaan, 163. The Years of Wandering, 165. The 
Fortieth Year, 166. Conclusion, 167. Moses' 
Farewell, 168. A Review of the Past, 168. A 
Review of the Law, 169. The Blessings and 
Curses, 170. Moses' Last Words, 171. Moses' 
Character, 173. Spiritual Lessons, 174. 

CHAPTER XII. 

The Law. 

The Form of the Decalogue, 180. Law before Moses, 
182. The Scope of the Law, 183. The Spiritual 
Law, 187. The Ethical Law, 190. The Civil 
Law, 193. The Criminal Code, 197. The Social 
System, 199. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

The Ceremonial Law. 

The Tabernacle, 206. The Offerings, 210. The 
Priests, 216. The Law of Holiness, 218. The 
Feasts, 221. Spiritual Lessons, 224. 



Contents 1 1 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Joshua. 

Outline, 227. The Nation, 228. The Land, 229. 
Crossing the Jordan, 230. War of Conquest, 232. 
Destruction of the Canaanites, 235. Division of 
the Land, 237. Joshua's Farewell, 239. Spiritual 
Lessons, 239. 

CHAPTER XV. 

Judges. 

Times of the Judges, 243. Chart of the Judges, 245. 
Spiritual Lessons, 247. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Ruth. 

Place and Purpose, 249. Picture of Social Life, 249. 
Naomi, 250. Spiritual Lessons, 250. Outline, 251. 



The Bible As It Is 



CHAPTER I 
INTRODUCTORY 



We begin with some general facts introductory 
to Bible study. What is proposed here is, first, 
Bible study as distinguished from mere reading, 
and, second, systematic study as distinguished from 
promiscuous study of separate parts, and, third, study 
with the purpose of getting a broad view of the Bible 
and its general scope. 

It is not proposed here that we stop to investigate 
every interesting question that may arise, whether of 
fact or doctrine. What we will seek is broad effects, 
wide landscapes and perspective views of long periods, 
taking in only the mountain-peaks of the narrative, 
and only indicating what is important for more 
detailed study, but not stopping to deal with these 
now. 

The first endeavor is to master the narrative. The 
Bible is first a history, and this should be learned, but 
in general at first, without loading the mind with the 

13 



14 The Bible As It Is 

smaller events. One should thus become able to think 
through the Bible. The great lessons should be 
attached to this narrative at the proper places. The 
book and chapter divisions may be used as helpful to 
obtain the sequence of events or to keep them in mind. 
It also greatly assists to future ease in finding places 
to have a chapter analysis of each book. But there 
are over a thousand chapters in the Bible, and some 
books are difficult to so divide, and few could carry 
so great a number in mind. So it is better to rely 
upon the narrative and by means of it keep the whole 
in memory. 

The space a matter takes in the Bible is not always 
a guide to its relative importance. The first chapter 
of Genesis far outweighs the ten chapters of names in 
Chronicles. We do not therefore spend the same 
amount of study here upon all parts proportionally. 
In reading for these studies, the student should read 
continuously through the narrative and through all 
parts containing it. For example, the history of 
Israel's journey from Egypt to Canaan should be read, 
without regard to the legislative parts, through to the 
end, and the legislation made an after study. We 
must not stop at every interesting story at first. What 
is wanted is a full grasp of the whole. Afterwards we 
can take up the details one by one. 

Space is not taken in this book with the printed text. 
It is supposed that the reader has his Bible in hand 
and has read the passage under discussion, or follows 
it as he reads here. 



Introductory 15 

How and Why we Believe the Bible. 
This question is proper at all times. People have a 
right to ask questions as to the Bible. Its claims are 
so great, its interests presented so vast, that it ought 
to be examined. The Bible never discourages inves- 
tigation, nor should we. In beginning a course of 
study we must therefore review briefly our ground of 
belief. We make three claims for the Bible. 1. It 
is authentic. 2. It is true. 3. It is inspired. These 
are three different questions. A book may be authen- 
tic but not true. Most works of fiction are so. A 
book may be true but not inspired. Most histories 
are so. If inspired it must be authentic and true. 
For all these claims we present first : 

The Testimony of Christ to the Scriptures. 
This cannot be met or impeached by any one. All 
the world admits that He was the wisest and holiest 
who ever lived. This is the testimony of infidels as well 
as all others. We have abundant historical reason for 
believing that there is no essential difference between the 
Old Testament as we have it and as Christ and His 
apostles used it. Christ and His apostles constantly 
refer to it and always with the highest reverence and 
confidence. They do not give the slightest hint of 
want of faith in it, or that it is other than literally 
true in its statements of fact and doctrine. Christ 
lived the life therein commanded, and did many things 
to fulfil its prophecies. He took His texts from it and 
preached it constantly. 



1 6 The Bible As It Is 

He quotes from at least twenty of its books cover- 
ing every part of the Old Testament. He affirms 
twenty or more of its narratives. Christ refers with- 
out any intimation of want of belief in their literal truth 
to the following Old Testament narratives: Crea- 
tion of man (Matt. 19: 4). Law of marriage (Matt. 
19:5). Story of Cain and Abel (Matt. 23:35). 
Noah and the Deluge (Matt. 24 : 37). Abraham 
(John 8 : 56). Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah 
and Lot's wife (Luke 17 : 28-32). The Manna (John 
6:49). Brazen Serpent (John 3 : 14). David arid 
Shew Bread (Matt. 12 : 3). Elisha and his miracles 
(Luke 4: 25). Healing of Naaman (Luke 4: 27). 
Tyre and Sidon (Matt, n: 22). Jonah and "the 
Whale " (Matt 12 : 39). The books of Moses (John 
5 : 46). The Psalms (Luke 20 : 42). Moses and the 
Prophets (Luke 24:27). Isaiah (Matt. 13:14). 
Daniel's Prophecies (Matt. 24: 15). Malachi (Matt. 
11 : 10). 

A single verse mentions the whole Old Testament as 
follows : * ' All things must be fulfilled which were writ- 
ten in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the 
Psalms concerning me" (Luke 24 : 44). Herein is in- 
cluded the whole of the Old Testament, in the three 
parts into which it was at that time divided. The 
Law of Moses included the first five books of our 
Bible which were then one. The Prophets included 
most of the prophetical books. The Psalms included 
the poetical as well as some of the other books, and took 
that name from the Psalms which formed the 



Introductory 17 

first of that part. In the further verses of that pas- 
sage He bases His whole gospel upon the Old Testa- 
ment and commands it to be preached everywhere. 

So that here is the highest evidence possible 
for the authenticity, the truth and the inspiration of 
the Old Testament. Christ and His apostles lived 
1,900 years nearer the time of the Old Testament 
than we, and within the memory of the facts of its 
composition as well as the facts therein related. They 
believed in its inspiration ; they give us their un- 
qualified assertions to its genuineness, truth and in- 
spiration. We may therefore rest confidently upon 
that unimpeachable testimony. The best, shortest 
and most conclusive reason for believing that the Bible 
is genuine, true and inspired is because Jesus said so. 
This can be understood by the child and will satisfy 
the philosopher. It can be understood and remem- 
bered by any one and even in the hour of illness or 
death will satisfy and bring assurance to the mind. 

1. The Bible is Authentic. 
We can trace the Bible back step by step from the 
present day to the time of Christ and beyond. The 
English version commonly used to-day was printed 
first in 161 1. Before that were other English versions, 
the most common ones being Tyndall's and WycklifTs. 
These were translated principally from the Latin Bible 
called the Vulgate, which was translated from the 
Greek copies about 500 a. d. Latin was then a spoken 
language. The Greek copies we still have number 



1 8 The Bible As It Is 

many hundreds and some of them are as old as the 
third and fourth centuries. It is from these that our 
Revised Version is taken, based upon the English or 
Authorized Version of 1611. The following diagram 
shows the course and connection of title to our Bible 
as we have it. 

History of the Bible. 
A.D. 



t 



1.2.3 




|Nh^ 



5 fi 7. 8. 9. IO .H. 12.13. 14 15.18. I7.I8.I9.2i 






LATIN VERSION 
VULGATE 



This diagram shows the history of the Bible from 
our time back to that of Christ. Our Authorized 
Version runs back 300 years. The older English 
versions, as Tyndall's and Wyckliff's, 500 years. 
The Latin version, called the Vulgate, 1,400 years. 
The Greek copies, some of them 1,600 years, that is 
to within 200 years of the time the latest books of the 
New Testament were written. Fragments have later 
been discovered as old as 1,700 years and it is very 
probable that still older ones will some day be dis- 
covered ; perhaps even some of the originals. 

There is a gap, as shown by the diagram, between 
the oldest Greek manuscripts and the days of the last 
of the apostles. This is bridged in several ways. 
Many writers of the first three centuries quoted from 
the New Testament, and together they have quoted all 
but twelve verses. Thus nearly the whole could be re- 



Introductory 19 

placed from these writers. Many translations were 
made into other languages, as Syriac and Ethiopian. 
These all corroborate our copies, so we know that we 
have not only authentic books, but correct copies of them. 

But as we do not have the original manuscripts 
actually written by the apostles and others, but only 
copies, how do we know they are correct? Two 
scholars, Dr. Wescott and Dr. Hort, who have ex- 
amined and compared these many Greek and other 
copies, tell us that, leaving out all minor differences 
which do not affect the sense or meaning, these many 
manuscripts gathered from all over the world, written 
on cloth, skins, parchment, papyrus and other material, 
do not differ from each other more than one word in 
a thousand ; that is only one-tenth of one per cent. 
As they do not differ from each other more than this, 
it is safe to say that they do not differ from the original 
manuscripts any more than this. So that we have 
within a tenth of one per cent, of accuracy in the 
copies we have. This is almost a miraculous preser- 
vation in view of the many copyings, translations and 
vicissitudes through which they have passed. 

We have traced the New Testament back to the 
time of the apostles, and we find, as all admit, that 
Christ had the Old Testament as we have it, so we 
need go no farther. If Christ was satisfied that it was 
authentic, we may well be. Besides we have the testi- 
mony of the Jews, who were so careful of their scrip- 
tures, and they tell us it is authentic. 

There are many other witnesses as the apocryphal 



so The Bible As It Is 

books which mention the Bible, and the Samaritan Penta- 
teuch held by that people from the earliest days; also 
such writers as Josephus, who mention the parts of the 
Old Testament as they then had them. In fact there 
is no ancient book which has one-tenth the evidence 
of this historical kind that the Bible has. The 
ancient classics do not have a fraction of the manu- 
scripts that the Bible has, nor the external evidence 
it has. These are received as genuine. Why not the 
Bible upon far greater evidence of the same kind ? 

2. The Bible is True. 

Besides the testimony of Christ, we have many 
proofs that the Bible is true. It has been submitted 
to the most searching tests. No book or matter of any 
kind has been so searched and tested as the Bible. Its 
proofs are generally classed as external and internal. 
We have much external testimony to its truth. 

i. There is a long line of historians, Christian, 
infidel and heathen, running from our day back to 
before the time of Christ. These affirm the facts 
wherever they touch upon them. 

2. The Jews tell us that the Old Testament is true. 
It is their history. It is their legislation. One might 
as well deny the facts of American history to us as to 
deny the facts of Jewish history to them. Their very 
existence as the Bible describes them is evidence for 
the truth. The Jew is a witness to the truth of the 
Old Testament wherever he appears. 

3. The land of Palestine is a witness for the Bible. 



Introductory 21 

It fits the facts of the Bible as a seal fits its impress. 
The mountains, valleys, cities, rivers and even wells 
are there as the Bible describes. The best guide book 
of the Holy Land is the Bible. 

4. The Christian Church is a witness for the 
Bible. It has existed as all history admits from the 
earliest days, and from the beginning it has believed 
the Bible. Its sacraments, its holy days, its services, 
its organizations, are all as the Bible declares. There 
is a continuous line of Christian witnesses from the 
first century to our times. 

5. The ruins of all ancient nations testify to the 
Bible. The science of archaeology, or ancient things, 
is one of the latest as well as the best witnesses to the 
Bible's truth. We can trace the course of the Bible 
story almost in every event back to the earliest times. 
On the walls of the Catacombs of Rome, made in the 
early centuries, are found portrayed nearly all the 
Bible stories. The Arch of Titus shows the picture of 
the Golden Candlestick the Bible describes as in the 
Temple. On the ruins of Assyria and Babylon are 
the accounts of the capture of Jerusalem with the 
names of its kings and details of the event. Under 
the city of Jerusalem has been discovered the conduit 
Hezekiah built to bring water into Jerusalem. The 
peoples of Canaan, as the Hittites, are shown, by ruins 
and inscriptions as described in the Bible account of 
the entrance of Israel into the land. The life in Egypt 
is accurate to the smallest detail as corroborated by the 
monuments and other records of Egypt. The names 



22 The Bible As It Is 

connected with the history of Abraham are found on 
the monuments of Assyria. The Tower of Babel has 
been found as given in the Bible. The ruins of the 
ancient world as destroyed in the deluge are being 
found, and the races then existing correspond with 
those described in Genesis. So as far back as we find 
remains we are given proof that the Bible story is true. 1 
6 . Science is another witness to the Bible. It affirms 
many facts written in the Bible ages ago. Almost 
every science is touched upon and wherever the Bible 
touches science it does so with precision. Professor 
Dana tells us the first chapter of Genesis agrees with 
the record of geology. Job gives this description of 
the earth: " He stretcheth out the north over 
empty space and hangeth the earth upon nothing " 
(Job 26 : 7). Here is a perfect description of the 
suspension of the earth in space and the inclination of 
its axis towards the north, and this written thou- 
sands of years before the discovery of these facts by 
modern science. So, in another place, is an equally 
pertinent reference to the facts of meteorology. 
"The wind goeth towards the south and turneth 
about unto the north ; it turneth about continually in 
its course and the wind returneth again unto its cir- 
cuits. All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is 
not full : unto the place whither the rivers go thither 
they go again " (Eccl. 1 : 6, 7). Here is a statement 

1 See Authenticity of the Hexateuch, by President S. P. C. 
Bartlett. 



Introductory 23 

of one of the most recent facts of science, the rotary 
motions of storms ; also a reference to the evaporation 
of the water of the seas and the circulation of vapors 
in the atmosphere. 

Thus exact also are the astronomical references and 
the anatomical and all other points which the Bible 
touches, showing that the writers were guided in their 
work. Where narratives or statements occur which 
seem to be in conflict with fact, it is because we do 
not understand either the reference or the fact. Many 
difficulties have been cleared up by increasing knowl- 
edge of the true meaning and the true facts of nature 
or history. 

Among the internal evidences to the truth of the 
Bible we mention a few. 

1. It claims to be true. There is no admission by 
any writer that he is recording anything but facts and 
truth. There is allegory, symbol and parable, but no 
fiction in the Bible. Such is its own claim, and every 
book and author must be taken at its own claim 
unless controverted. Succeeding writers in the Bible 
testify to those who wrote before. 

2. The Bible looks like a true book. It gives 
facts and names and dates and places all very unlike 
the works of fiction or fable. In Luke 3:1, 2, there 
are seventeen distinct historical geographical references 
which, taken separately and together, form a network 
of testing in which a fictitious narrative could not 
escape detection. Many such are in the Bible and 
through all it has passed triumphantly, unimpeached. 



24 The Bible As It Is 

3. The agreement of the various writers with each 
other in statement of fact is another evidence of truth. 
There is not that verbal agreement which evidences 
collusion, but that difference of statement with yet 
substantial agreement which is the mark of unbiased 
narrative. 

4. Its plain statement of facts derogatory to its 
own heroes and people evidences truth in the nar- 
ration. Works of fiction glorify their heroes and 
conceal their faults. The Bible takes no pains to do 
so. It exposes Abraham's lie and Jacob's deception 
and David's unchastity and murder and Solomon's 
fall and Israel's apostasy, with unconcealed frankness. 

3. The Bible is Inspired. 

This is the great matter. If inspired it must be 
authentic and true. It is this quality which lifts it above 
all other books. It is in this respect that it stands 
alone. No other book can claim to be inspired. We 
sometimes use the word " inspired " in a weak sense, 
as when we say a picture or a painting or a song is in- 
spired. We mean specially conceived and executed. 
This is not what we mean when we say the Bible is 
inspired. We apply to it two words, Inspiration and 
Revelation. The Bible is a Revelation given by In- 
spiration. We will see later what is meant by these 
terms and how it was given. 

1. We here again rely on the testimony of Christ 
as to its inspiration. He fully believed it was 
from God. He was silent as to any want of faith 



Introductory 25 

in its inerrancy or inspiration. His silence is 
as eloquent as His words. He based His whole 
gospel upon it, and commanded His apostles to do 
so, and they did. " Built upon the foundation of the 
apostles and prophets. ' ' If the foundation is defective, 
what of the superstructure ? They stand or fall to- 
gether. 

2. The Bible claims to be inspired. In the Old 
Testament the phrase, " Thus saith the Lord/' 
occurs 2,600 times. The parts preceded by this word 
certainly claim inspiration. The apostles claim to 
have written by inspiration and place themselves on a 
level with the prophets of the Old Testament. 

3. Many scripture writers affirm the inspiration of 
those who went before or were their contemporaries. 
So the prophets affirm that Moses spake from God. 
So Peter affirms Paul's inspiration. 

4. The Bible bears the marks of an inspired book. 
Its nobility of language and thought agree with this 
claim. Its conception of God and man and the uni- 
verse is high and noble. It gives a conception of 
God entirely different from that of the world before or 
since. This is also true of the hereafter. Its pictures 
of heaven are as beautiful as its pictures of hell are awful. 

5. It has foretold events and these events have 
come to pass. The fulfilled prophecies of the Bible 
are to our day what miracles were to the days of the 
apostles. In the visions of Daniel we have an out- 
line of the world's history as it has actually been ful- 
filled. The fate of empires has come as foretold. 



26 The Bible As It Is 

Nineveh, Tyre, Egypt, Babylon, Jerusalem, and the 
Jews are to-day just what the Bible foretold in writing 
centuries ago. 

6. Its agreement with the facts of science already 
noted is evidence of its inspiration. Professor Dana, 
the great geologist, writes of the first chapter of Gen- 
esis : " It displays purpose in the author of the docu- 
ment and knowledge beyond that of ancient or any 
time and philosophy more than human. The sacred 
volume manifests its divine origin in its accordance 
with the latest readings of nature/ ' No other hand 
than God's could have written the account of creation, 
for man did not then exist. 

7. The effects of the Bible substantiate its claims 
to inspiration. Blessing has followed its path. Free- 
dom, education, morality, plenty and safety are the 
evidences of the Bible's origin wherever it goes. 

8. The adaptability of the Bible and its religion to 
all mankind is another proof. It is understood as well 
by the Esquimaux as by the Syrian ; in our day, as in 
the time of its giving. It is a world book for all time 
and ages and peoples. This is not true of any other 
book whatever. 

9. It has been accepted and trusted by the wisest 
and best in every age and land. We give some testi- 
monies which might be multiplied by the hundred. 1 

1 Many such testimonies may be found in a little book, 
" Testimonies of Great Men to the Bible and Christianity," 
by The Religious Tract Society, London. 



Introductory 27 

Goethe wrote, — Almost to it alone do I owe my 
moral culture. 

Locke, — It has God for its author, salvation for its 
end, and truth without an admixture of error for its 
matter. 

Ruskin, — I count it very confidently the most pre- 
cious and on the whole the essential part of all my 
education. 

Napoleon, — Everything in it is grand and worthy 
of God. 

Wm. E. Gladstone, — The scriptures are a house 
builde^ on a rock. The weapon of offense which 
shall impair their efficiency in the redemption of man- 
kind has not yet been forged. 

Daniel Webster, — I have read it through many 
times. I now make a point of going through it once 
a year. It is the book of all others for the lawyer. 

Abraham Lincoln, — Take all of this book on reason 
that you can and the rest on faith and you will live 
and die a happy man. 

How the Bible Came. 
The answer to this is not only interesting, but im- 
portant. It will define or help us to understand what 
Inspiration is. To know what Inspiration means we 
may examine just how the Bible came. We find it 
came in several ways. It gives its own account of 
its origin. " God having of old time spoken unto the 
fathers in the prophets by divers portions and in divers 
manners, hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in 



28 The Bible As It Is 

His Son" (Heb. i : i, 2). Here the Old Testament 
is described as given " in divers portions and in divers 
manners." A diagram will help us to understand 
this. 

1500 B.C.A.D. 2000 

T . . . 

jOXIOOOYRs] Q N.T- 50 YRS. 

We have here a line running back to 1500 years 
B. c. On this the centuries are marked. The time 
of Christ is represented by a cross. The Old Testa- 
ment is represented by the space marked off from 1500 
to 500 b. c. It was about in this time that the Old 
Testament was written. (We use round numbers here 
and elsewhere for the sake of ease in remembering.) 
It was written during this thousand years and by about 
thirty writers. Each wrote his part or gave it and it 
was written afterwards by others. These writings ac- 
cumulated and were kept separate at first in rolls. At 
last they were compiled in somewhat the shape as we 
have them. The New Testament came differently. 
It was written all at once, that is, in the lifetime of 
the apostles, say within fifty years, and by about ten 
writers. 

In all, the whole came during about sixteen hun- 
dred years, and was written by about forty writers. 

We have now to enquire how God gave the con- 
tents of the Bible to these writers. We take the 
Bible's own account of itself. We find that there were 
many methods used by God to communicate with 



Introductory 



29 



man. We will enumerate them. The diagram fol- 
lowing will show the relation of these to each other 
and the whole. 




HOW THE BIBLE REVELATION WAS GIVEN BY INSPIRATION. 



30 The Bible As It Is 

i. God spake to some by an audible voice. So it 
is recorded He spake to Moses. "The Lord spake 
unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his 
friend" (Ex. 33: n). So it is recorded that a 
large part of the Pentateuch was given. So also God 
spake to Christ. A voice came out of heaven, 
" Thou art My beloved Son ; in Thee I am well 
pleased" (Luke 3: 22). 

2. God sent messages by angels to some, and 
these were recorded. So angels appeared to Abra- 
ham, to Mary and Joseph, and many others. 

3. Visions were given to others and were recorded 
by them. So Ezekiel saw many visions and Daniel 
others, and last, John saw the whole of the Revelation. 

4. The influence of the Holy Spirit was God's 
usual way of communicating truth to man. In the 
Old Testament this was by special messages in certain 
words. These were called a "burden." Sometimes 
the prophet did not understand them himself. In the 
New Testament times the message was by a general 
inward illumination, which enabled the writers to un- 
derstand all truth necessary to be given, so that what 
they wrote was inspired. 

5. Others wrote as witnesses, giving truthful ac- 
counts of what they saw and heard. They were guided 
by the Holy Spirit to record what they saw and heard. 
John says he was such a witness (1 John 1:1). 

6. Others did not themselves see or hear, but 
recorded what others were witnesses to. So Luke 
compiled the gospel he wrote. He says he " traced 



Introductory 31 

the course of all things accurately from the first" 
(Luke 1:3). 

7. Many of the books of the Old Testament were 
compiled from other books, which often are named as 
the sources from which they were taken. These were 
often the national records kept by the scribes a*id 
recorders mentioned as officers of Israel. Many of 
these ancient books are mentioned but are now lost. 
Twenty such older books are mentioned in scripture. 
Those who compiled often transcribed literally and 
often condensed and referred to them for further in- 
formation. The work of these, affirmed, as we have 
seen, by after writers and by Christ, is as worthy of 
the word Inspiration as any other part. 

The final collecting of the books of the Bible, as we 
have them now, was done by others, and to this also 
we are indebted for the Bible as we have it. While 
we do not claim the work of canonization as inspira- 
tion, we can certainly see, in the orderly form in which 
it exists as seen by the bird's-eye view hereafter given, 
that it had providential superintendence. 

It was to the Bible thus given and brought together 
that Christ certified. So that we may have as much 
reason to accept the one method of giving as the other. 
All is a Revelation given by Inspiration. 

We have not included Christ in this list of methods 
of inspiration. Christ was more than a method of in- 
spiration. He was the giver as well as the subject of 
all inspiration, in all and through all methods. He 
Himself was God's Revelation. 



32 The Bible As It Is 

New Testament Inspiration. 

As the New Testament was not written until after 
Christ died and rose, the attestations of its inspiration 
need to be specially mentioned. 

i. The disciples, and particularly the apostles, 
were a specially selected group of witnesses and chan- 
nels for the giving of facts and truths of the gospel 
(Acts i : 8; Luke 24 : 48). 

2. They were given many and palpable evidences 
of the facts and truths they were to proclaim (John 
20: 30, 31; 21: 25; 1 John 1, 2; Luke 24:35, 

41-43)- 

3. They were promised by Christ the aid of the 

Holy Spirit to remember what they heard and saw 
(John 14: 26). 

4. They were promised also the aid of the Holy 
Spirit in bringing new truth to their minds (John 
16: 13;. 

5. The apostles affirm that they were such wit- 
nesses and were so given revelations of the gospel 
(Acts 2:32; 4-33; . i3 : 3 j ; 1 Cor. 15:1-6; 
1 John 1:1,2; Acts 10 : 39-41 ; 2 Peter 1:16; Gal. 
1 : 11, 12). 

6. The Holy Spirit attested their words and acts 
(Acts 2: 43; 5:12; 10:41-46; 11:15; 14:3; 
15 : 8 ; Rom. 15 : 19; 2 Cor. 12 : 12 ; Heb. 2 : 4). 

7. They give mutual confirmation of each other in 
authority, fact and doctrine (2 Peter 3: 15, 16; 
1 Cor. 2 : 10-13; Eph. 3:5; Jude 17 ; Gal. 2 : 8). 

8. We have the appeal of the fathers of the early 



Introductory 33 

church to these writings. Tertullian and others refer 
to them and affirm them. 

9. We have the testimony of the Holy Spirit to 
the truths in every place preached. 

10. We have the testimony of our own experience 
to the inspiration of the New Testament in conscious- 
ness of sins forgiven, peace with God, power and prayer 
and hope of heaven. This is true in all ages, of all 
classes, at all times. Such a mass of long-continued 
testimony does not accompany any other matter of 
human knowledge or experience. 

How to Understand the Bible. 

1. The Bible is a spiritual book. While much in 
it may be understood by any one, as its literary form, 
historical narratives and ethical teachings, there is much 
that can be only spiritually discerned. Therefore it re- 
quires a spiritual state to enter into its meaning in 
spiritual things (1 Cor. 2 : 14, 15). 

2. It calls for a willingness to obey its teachings. 
One who goes to the Bible to find objections to it or 
to criticise it need not expect to understand it. 

3. Further the Bible calls for close study. Its 
gospel messages to repent and believe are so plain that 
a child may see their meaning, but there are parts 
which need to be searched with all the diligence pos- 
sible. 

4. Again we must remember that it is a supernatural 
book. We are not to expect it to agree with all in 
our limited observation or experience. It professes to 



34 The Bible As It Is 

relate matters of supernatural power far beyond human 
understanding. 

5. The Bible is self-explanatory. One place ex- 
plains another. So that, in nearly every case, if we 
search we will find the solution of every difficult matter. 

6. The whole teaching of the Bible must be had on 
any point or doctrine. It is unsafe to rest any teach- 
ing upon single texts or a single part, especially in the 
earlier books, and it is unnecessary to do so. Doctrine 
is developed in scripture and the full meaning is found 
in the later books. The Old Testament must be read 
in the light of the New, and the New in the light of 
the Old. 

7. The Bible use of words is to be observed. 
While many are used in the ordinary conversational 
sense others have a special Bible meaning. This must 
be ascertained. Every word has meaning. They are 
like purified gold. The entire meaning of any part 
must be taken as the writer intended. 

8. Obscure parts must be read in the light of those 
clearly understood. 

9. The historical and local meaning should always 
be ascertained before applying the teachings to ourselves 
or to others. Interpretation is one thing and applica- 
tion is another. The interpretation is to be first sought 
and then the application made as warranted. 

10. The plain, literal meaning is to be taken unless 
some other is clearly designated. The Bible is not a 
book of puzzles, nor, like the oracle, capable of many 
meanings diverse from one another. 



Introductory 35 

What to Look for in Bible Study. 

The Bible lies in layers as the soil of the earth. 

Some meaning is apparent to the actual observer; 
much lies deeper. These may be represented as fol- 
lows : 

1. Literary Study. 

2. Historical Study. 

3. Ethical Study. 

4. Doctrinal Study. 

5. Spiritual Study. 

6. Practical Study. 

7. Prophetical Study. 

1. The Bible may be studied as literature. It was 
the literature of a great people. It has prose and 
poetry, drama and proverb. The literary form of any 
part often has an important bearing on its meaning. 
Such a book as the Song of Solomon must be arranged 
in its parts before it can be understood. The analysis 
of a book or part is also included in its literary study. 

2. The historical study of the Bible must have 
close attention. It is a great history, which has an 
important bearing on its doctrinal teachings. This 
includes all facts of every kind. 

3. The ethical teaching of the Bible comes next 
into view, — its great teachings as to right and wrong. 
It is the standard book of life and conduct for man- 
kind. 

4. Still deeper lie the doctrines of the Bible. It 
tells what to believe about man, God, sin, hereafter, 



The Bible As It Is 

saMation. The doctrines are to the religious system 
wlmt bones are to the body. 

5. The spiritual teaching of the Bible is the great 
matter. It is the food of the spiritual nature. This 
forms its value for devotional meetings and private 
needs. Under this head come the study of the symbols 
of the Bible and its typical teachings. Spiritual truth is 
the very life of the soul. 

6. The study of the Bible for practical uses needs 
to be classed here. It is a book of lessons in Christian 
service ; how to save and to lead men to Christ, how 
to answer the inquirers' difficulties, how to meet various 
classes. It is the sword of the spirit. 

7. The prophetic study of the Bible should have a 
large place. One-seventh of the Bible is predictive 
prophecy. It tells the story of the future. It is the 
part most neglected to-day. 

Some penetrate no deeper than to see the literary value 
of the Bible. Others will descend to the historical and 
the ethical. Theology or study of doctrine is often 
avoided. We must learn, if we want to get what God 
would teach us in Bible study, not to be afraid to sound 
its depths. Scripture itself counsels to go on to per- 
fection in the knowledge of truth. 



CHAPTER II 

BIRD'S-EYE VIEWS OF THE BIBLE 

i. The Whole Bible. 

In opening any book we should first read the title 
and then look at the table of contents to see the theme 
and plan and scope of the book. The Bible has no 
table of contents, but there is a list of its books printed 
with most editions, and an examination of this will 
give some idea of the plan and scope of the Bible. 
We find there are sixty-six books in all and these are 
divided into two parts, the Old Testament having 
thirty-nine and the New Testament twenty-seven. 
These numbers may be remembered by the number of 
letters in the names of the parts. Old (3) Testament 
(9)-39- New (3) Testament (9) 3x9-27. 

The names "Old Testament" and "New Testa- 
ment/' are taken from the Bible itself. They are 
found in these words, "Able ministers of the New 
Testament"; "in the reading of the Old Testa- 
ment " (2 Cor. 3:6, 14). Here the terms are applied 
to the New and Old Covenants, or, as we would say, 
to the law and the gospel, the Old Covenant being 
that which Moses made with Israel, the New Covenant 
being that brought by Christ, the words Covenant and 
Testament being the same. 

37 



38 The Bible As It Is 

Here, then, are the great meanings and differences of 
these parts. The great teacher of the Old Covenant 
was Moses. The great teacher of the New was Christ. 
The great feature of the Old is that covenant made 
by Moses. The great feature of the New is that gospel 
of grace brought us by Christ. 

We live under the New Covenant, but the Old is as 
precious to us as to them who lived under it, for it 
contains the New in the seed or bud. The New 
Testament with its New Covenant or gospel is the un- 
folding or development of the Old Testament or 
Covenant. Therefore we need to study both. The 
seed and the full-grown plant are both necessary to a 
right knowledge of the Bible. But, as the Old is the 
germ of the New, and the central point of the New 
Testament is the Cross of Christ, that also is the 
central point of the Old Testament. It must then 
be read in the light of the Cross. 

It will greatly help in becoming interested in the 
study of the Bible and in understanding it if we can 
see its general scope and form ; if, before one visited 
the World's Fair, he took a survey of the grounds 
from some elevated point, noted the beauty of the 
whole, the form of the grounds, the places and charac- 
ter of the buildings, the entrances and exits, the roads 
and points of interest, he would save himself much 
time and obtain a far better idea of the whole than by 
first beginning with some of the details. He would 
know where to go for what he wanted most and first. 
So, if we can obtain a survey of the whole Bible, we 



Bird's-Eye Views of the Bible 39 

will greatly facilitate our progress and interest in its 
study. 

Taking the books of the Bible, we will examine the 
list with reference to some arrangement or grouping 
of them. The first five we have no trouble in ar- 
ranging. They are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, 
Numbers and Deuteronomy. They are the books of 
Moses. They were once one book and are still 
called " Moses* ' as we say " Shakespeare. " Some- 
times they are called "The Law" or "The Law of 
Moses. " The great feature is law. There is some 
history, but law is the principal contents of that part 
of the Bible. We call it the Pentateuch, that is "the 
five tools " or rolls. This, then, is the first group. 

The second is a group of books which are com- 
posed nearly all of history. They are twelve. 
Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 
Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah and 
Esther. It will assist in learning these to make three 
groups of them, and remember that those in the middle 
group are double books and the first and last groups 
end with a female name. Thus : 

Joshua, Judges, Ruth. 

Samuel, Kings, Chronicles. 

Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther. 

The next group embraces the poetical books. This, 
in turn, is different from all the foregoing and stands out 
distinctly by itself. These books are written in poetical 
form ; that does not mean rhyme of sound as we have 
in poetry, but what we might call rhyme of meaning. 



40 The Bible As It Is 

We will study that later. They are five. Job, 
Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon. 
Their great feature is wisdom of many kinds. They 
are the compressed essence of the wisdom of the Old 
Testament. This includes not only what we call 
religion, but also philosophy and practical knowledge 
of life as well as what we call theology as then re- 
vealed. 

The last group is called the Prophets. These books 
are so called from the fact that they are composed of 
prophecy, which means either preaching or prediction. 
There is very little history or other matter in them. 
They form a distinct class. There are seventeen of 
them. They are sometimes divided into five major 
prophets, — Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, 
Daniel, — and twelve minor prophets, — Hosea, Joel, 
Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, 
Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi. These, 
especially the minor prophets, will be difficult to 
memorize. Their abbreviations form a sort of crude 
rhyme which will assist the memory. 

Ho. Jo. Am. 

Ob. Jo. Mi. Na. 

Hab. Ze. Hag. Ze. 

Malachi. 

By learning the names of the books of the Bible by 
groups they will the more easily be remembered and 
their meaning also. It is as necessary to learn these 
as it is to know the alphabet. 

The New Testament is divided into similar groups. 



Bird's-Eye Views of the Bible 41 

The four gospels stand by themselves because they 
give the story of the life of Christ. They are Mat- 
thew, Mark, Lukj, John. They are like the books 
of Moses in that they give us the laws of Christ as the 
others give us the laws of Moses. They are the books 
of Christian law. The book of Acts stands by itself, 
and corresponc^to the twelve historical books of the 
Old Testament. 

The Epistles are a ]jpge group of twenty-one books, 
and, like the minor prophets, will be difficult to mem- 
orize. There are two classes of them, the epistles by 
Paul and those by other writers. Paul's are Romans, 
1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philip- 
pians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 
Timothy, Titus, Philemon, and Hebrews. The latter 
may be classed with Paul's for want of a better classi- 
fication, for there is no unanimity as to who was the . 
author. These are fourteen in number. The other 
group includes seven; James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2 and 
3 John, and Jude. Fourteen and seven, twenty-one 
in all. All multiples of seven. The Epistles contain 
the spiritual development of the wisdom of the New 
Testament, its theology and directions for Christian life. 
In this it agrees with the poetical books of the Old 
Testament. 

The last book in the New Testament stands by itself. 
The Revelation is unlike any other. The Revelation 
corresponds to the prophetical books in the Old Testa- 
ment. 

We have now four parts of the Old Testament and 



42 The Bible As It Is 

four parts of the New Testament. These correspond 
with each other as we will see by placing them in op- 
posite lists. It will be seen that they follow common 
lines of character. 

Pentateuch (5) Gospels (4) 

History (12) Acts (1) 

Poetry (5) Epistles (21) 

Prophecy (17) Revelation (1) 



(39) (27) 

It will be noticed that these groups in the Bible do 
not correspond in the number of books or in the amount 
of matter which they contain. That would be a mere 
mechanical agreement. It is in character and not 
quantity that they divide into groups. These groups 
are separated by natural lines of division, as much so 
as the parts of an orange or of a flower. 

The correspondence between the four groups of the 
Old Testament and the four groups of the New Testa- 
ment will be seen at once. The first groups are the 
Pentateuch and the Gospels, the Pentateuch the law by 
Moses, the Gospels the law by Jesus Christ. In the sec- 
ond group the history of the Old Testament lies over 
against that of the New in Acts. The Poetical books give 
the wisdom of the Old and correspond with the Epis- 
tles, which give us the wisdom of the Christian age; and 
the one book of prophecy in the New agrees with the 
seventeen of the Old. 

These groups may be united with each other and 



Bird's-Eye Views of the Bible 43 

the scope of all shown by four alliterative words; 
Precept, Practice, Piety, Prophecy, describing the 
character of each as follows : 



Pentateuch. 


Precept. 


Gospels. 


History. 


Practice. 


Acts. 


Poetry. 


Piety. 


Epistles. 


Prophecy. 


Prophecy. 


Revelation, 



The first group of each includes books of Precept. 
The Pentateuch contains the Precepts of the Old 
Testament, the Gospels the Precepts of the New. 
The second groups are books of Practice. The Old 
gives these precepts in practice and often not in 
practice ; the New gives the precepts of Christ as ex- 
hibited in practice in the New Testament age. The next 
groups we designate by the word Piety, which, as 
an alliterative word, expresses the wisdom and life of 
the poetical and epistolary books. The last groups in- 
clude the Prophecy books. 

There is a further agreement in these four divisions 
in each Testament. If we divide a human life into 
four parts, the first quarter will be spent in learning, 
the child his lessons, the young man his trade or 
profession, and all of us lessons in life. This corre- 
sponds to the first group in each Testament. It is the 
precept part of each Testament. The second quarter 
of a person's life is the time of activity. The man is 
in his profession or trade or business. This corre- 
sponds to the second group of each part of the Bible, 



44 The Bible As It Is 

the history groups. The third quarter is the time of 
thought and contemplation. The man in middle life 
wants to think more deeply, to form a philosophy, a 
system of religion, to see the reason of things. To 
this the third part corresponds, the group of wisdom 
books. The fourth quarter of a life is the time of 
retrospection or looking to the future. To this the 
fourth class in each part of the Bible corresponds. 
So that the Bible follows our life. As children we 
naturally begin with the first books of the Bible, Genesis 
or the Gospels. The youth loves history or story, to 
that age the narrative books of the Bible appeal. The 
man in middle life will be attracted to the more con- 
templative parts, as he feels the burden and problems 
of life, and so turns to the books of wisdom in the third 
class. The aged Christian loves those which tell of 
the future and are so mysterious to others. 

The Bible, then, has an organization. It has a sym- 
metrical form. There is evidence of a superintending 
hand even in the form in which it has come to us, and 
this is the order generally speaking in which it was 
given. 

2. Lines of Unity in the Bible. 

There are certain lines of unity suggested by the 
foregoing view which we ought to notice in beginning 
the study of the Bible. 

i. Unity of form. This we have seen in the pre- 
ceding section. There is certainly unity, as any one 
can see. This, in a book given during sixteen hundred 



Bird's-Eye Views of the Bible 45 

years and by forty different writers, is remarkable 
enough to lead us to see design in it all and that de- 
sign more than human. 

2. Unity of history. We shall see that the Bible 
tells one story. It is one narrative. We are not to 
take up the study of disconnected books or narratives. 
They are most intimately connected by a continuous 
line running through the whole book from Genesis to 
Revelation. 

3. • Unity of doctrine. It is one system of truth. 
The doctrines of God, man, sin, grace, redemption, 
and hereafter are the same throughout. 

4. Unity of spiritual experience. The saints of 
the Old Testament are like those of the New and all 
like ourselves. The nature of man being the same, 
the grace of God being the same, the nature of life 
and the world the same, we may expect the experi- 
ences to be alike also, and they are. 

5. Unity of prophecy. The prophecies of the 
Old are continued in the New and we see the same 
outlook in each part. 

3. Lines of Diversity. 
The two great parts of the Bible also present some 
striking contrasts. We will notice some of these. They 
are necessary to a right understanding of the Bible. 

1. We have seen the different manner in which 
they came, the Old during a thousand years, the 
New in one generation. 

2. Also the great teachers of each. " God who 



46 The Bible As It Is 

at sundry times and in divers manners spake in times 
past unto the fathers hath in these last days spoken 
unto us in His Son." Moses and the prophets are 
the great teachers of the Old. Christ and His apos- 
tles are the great teachers of the New. 

3. The persons addressed, or written of, form an- 
other striking contrast. In the Old Testament it is 
Israel. It is their history. To them the admonitions 
are addressed. Other nations come in only because 
they touch Israel. In the New it is the Church, a spirit- 
ual body universal, and especially the Gentile Church. 
This difference is recognized in this passage. 
" Moses was faithful in all his house as a servant. 
. . . But Christ as a Son over His own house* ' 
(Heb. 3:5, 6). Israel is addressed as a nation. 
True there is much to individuals in the Old. But 
not only Israel, but other peoples are addressed mostly 
as nations and their destiny as such is in the foreground. 
In the New Testament the messages are principally to 
the Church and to individuals. 

4. The subjects with which each part deals is another 
point of difference. The Old Testament has little 
about the future life and the other world. It is there, 
but not developed. In the New Testament these 
form the great subjects. The other world and the 
future life are fully declared. In the Old again it 
is largely secular matters which are taught; Israel's 
life as a nation and national duties ; the relations 
of man in social life. Politics are dwelt upon and 
matters of state. In the New there is little of all this. 



Bird's-Eye Views of the Bible 47 

Man's spiritual duties and interests are the great theme. 
It will be seen that these two parts are supplementary 
to each other. 

4. Lines of Development. 
We are to look for the development of certain lines 
as we go on with the study of the Bible. 

1. We shall see a succession of ages or periods of 
dispensation in the history of man, during which we 
will see changes of condition and divine actings to- 
wards him. It will be important to discriminate be- 
tween these so as to know what applies to each of the 
scriptures we study. 

2. We must expect to see an unfolding of divine 
operation. The Bible shows God at work among 
mankind in the past. He is still at work and on the 
same plan extended. 

3. We shall also see an extending sphere of grace. 
At first we shall see God working with individuals, 
then later with families, afterwards with a nation and 
now with a world-wide body, the Church, and still 
later not only the whole world, but other worlds come 
within the sphere of grace. 

4. We shall see a series of divine covenants given to 
man, beginning with the first to Adam, following with 
another to Noah, and a third to Abraham, and a fourth 
to Israel, and a fifth to David, and a sixth to us in 
Christ, and a seventh to the world in the New Earth. 
All these are displays of the Everlasting covenant given 
Christ in the Eternal ages. 



48 The Bible As It Is 

5. A development of truth will be seen. We shall 
find the germs of all truth in the earlier books, and 
these brought out more clearly in the succeeding parts. 
Successive revelations are given to each of God's 
people. Enoch learns more than Adam, and Noah 
more than he; and so Abraham, Moses and others 
down to Christ and His apostles, receiye ever greater 
revelations, and at last, John, the greatest of all. 

6. We shall see also a rise in godly character in the 
successive persons who come before us. Each great 
Bible character is a greater one spiritually than those 
who were before him. 

7. The Revelation of Christ is the great theme of 
the Bible. We see Him first with the Father in the 
eternal past, then in creation, afterwards with the Old 
Testament church, later in earthly life, now in His 
present state and the coming day of the Lord, and 
at last* in the eternal future. This eternal view of 
Christ is the view of the Bible and its great theme. 
It is to reveal God, for Christ is the revelation of God. 
The theme, then, of the Bible is God, and Christ in His 
many characters as His manifestation. 1 

5. Full View of the Bible. 

The entire view of the Bible is shown in this dia- 
gram to which there are added some of the lines of 
unity, diversity and development above described, and 
some of the lines we expect to cover in these studies. 

2 See " The Greater Life and Work of Christ," by the author 
of this book. 



Bird's-Eye Views of the Bible 49 



The King and 
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The Bible As It Is 



6. A View of the Old Testament. 

We will now take up the first great division of the 
Bible, the Old Testament, and endeavor to obtain a 
perspective view of it. It occupies three-fourths of 
the whole Bible. This is all one great story. It is 
all about the people of Israel. It tells their rise and 
progress, their fall, and predicts their future. Along 
this we find the great lesson God would have us learn. 
It is a great sermon in story. While perfectly true, it 
is also a great allegorical representation of great moral 
and spiritual truths. We might call it the Pilgrim's 
Progress of the Bible, only the happy ending of Bun- 
yan's pilgrim has not been reached yet in the Israelitish 
nation except in prophecy and allegorically. 

The whole history of Israel in the Old Testament 
may be described as The Rise and Fall of Israel. It 
may be represented by an ascending and descending 
line on which we will arrange approximately all the 
books of the Old Testament in the order in which 
they lie in the story. The following diagram will 
represent this : 




We have placed the highest point of their history in 
the time of David and Solomon. This was spiritually 



Bird's-Eye Views of the Bible 51 

and typically their time of greatest glory. The books 
we have placed along this ascending and descending 
line as they occur in the narrative. Those on the 
ascending line tell of their rise. Those on the de- 
scending line tell of the time of their fall. The poetical 
books, except Job, were mostly written at the time 
of their greatest glory. The Prophets came as they 
began to descend. By keeping clearly in mind this 
brief outline a view is had of the general place of the 
respective parts of the Old Testament. 

Another diagram will assist in the understanding of 
the historical part of the Old Testament. 

Israel's history may be roughly outlined as a period 
of two thousand years from Abraham to Christ. This 
period may be divided into four parts of about equal 
length. Some of these parts are longer, some shorter, 
but this will do approximately, and later we will 
correct the periods. We may describe these four 
parts of Israel's history alliteratively by four words, 
the Camp, Commonwealth, Crown and Captivity, 
using the latter word for the entire period of the sub- 
jection. 

I Camp J Commonwealth 1 Crown 1 Captivity 
The Pentateuch Joshua Judges ll.ll Sam Ml Kings I Ezra. Neh. 
Ruth I.IIChRON. | ESTHER 

outline of Israel's history. 

The Camp period includes the time of their history 
before they became a settled people in their own land. 
It includes the time of pilgrimage of their great an- 
cestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the time of 



52 The Bible As It Is 

their stay in Egypt and of the journey to Canaan. 
The next period, the Commonwealth, includes the 
time they were under judges in Canaan. The third, 
the Crown period, the time when they had independ- 
ent kings of their own ; and the last period, the 
Captivity, when they were under foreign powers, but 
not always as captives. 

The books which tell of these periods are given on 
the diagram. It is well to learn these and associate 
them in mind with these general periods. 

We will first take the Camp period and look at the 
books which give the story of the origin and rise of 
Israel as a nation. The Pentateuch tells us this 
story. It includes, as has been said, the story of the 
pilgrimage of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the life of 
Israel in Egypt and their journey to Canaan. In 
Egypt they were but pilgrims. There they grew 
physically into a nation. In the Wilderness they be- 
came a nation politically. 

7. Genesis. 

We have taken a series of views first of the whole 
Bible, then of the Old Testament and last of the 
Pentateuch. We will now take a single book, 
Genesis. 

Genesis is in some respects the most remarkable 
book in the Bible. The name Genesis is from the 
title in the Greek version. It means the genera- 
tion. It will give a key to the book. It is a book 
of beginnings. It shows the beginning of mat- 



BircTs-Eye Views of the Bible 53 

ter, of the world, of life, of man, marriage and home, 
of grace, of sin in the world, of redemption, of the 
church, of the promised Saviour, of nations, of law, 
and of the chosen people. All study of things secular 
as well as sacred must go back to Genesis. 

No other book in the Bible contains such a succession 
of interesting and generally well-known narratives as 
Eden, Cain, Abel, the Flood, the Tower of Babel, 
Hagar, Lot and Sodom, Ishmael, Isaac offered, Re- 
becca, Jacob and Esau, Jacob's ladder, Rachel, Jacob 
at Peniel, Joseph and his brethren, Joseph in Egypt. 
These form a succession of narratives of surpassing 
and dramatic interest and laden with truth. This is 
one reason why Genesis is the place to commence 
Bible study. 

Another great feature is the extent of time it covers. 
This will be seen by a diagram. We will use the 
common chronology here and elsewhere for want of a 
better, for there is no agreement as to early Bible 
chronology by those who reject this. Besides, the fact 
here shown would be more remarkable if we used a 
longer time. 

We will represent the time covered by Genesis and 
by all the rest of the Bible. 

1 1 1 



i- ■ ■ ■ 

" Genesis 2300 Yrs. 



IRestofOT 
1000 Yrs. 



It will be seen that Genesis covers 2,300 years and 
the rest of the Old Testament 1,000 years. Genesis 
extends nearly half-way across the 6,000 years as- 



54 The Bible As It Is 

signed to human history according to the old chro- 
nology. If we take a longer chronology, it covers the 
greater part of human history. 

But we must remember here that the Bible was not 
written to give a history of the world. It touches the 
rest of the world only as it is necessary for the great 
narrative it gives. 

A good method by which to get the contents of a book 
of the Bible is to read it carefully with pencil and paper 
in hand, and, having read a chapter, to write in a word 
on the paper the contents of the chapter ; say it is the 
first chapter of Genesis, the word " creation " de- 
scribes it. Then take the second chapter in like 
manner, and so through the book. If there is more 
than one subject in the chapter take the principal or 
most suggestive. After making a list of all, look 
over the list and group the chapters. In this way 
you will have an analysis of the whole book. 

Now, taking Genesis in this way, it will be seen to be 
the history of three families, Adam's, Noah's, Abra- 
ham's. 

i. Adam's family, — Chapters i to 5. 

2. Noah's family, — Chapters 6 to 11. 

3. Abraham's family, — Chapters 12 to 50. 
Adam's family means, of course, his immediate 

descendants to Noah; and Noah's family, his de- 
scendants to Abraham. Abraham's family includes 
three further divisions ; the chapters that relate to his 
own history, those relating to Jacob, and those relating 
to Joseph. 



Bird's-Eye Views of the Bible $$ 

i. Abraham, — Chapters 12 to 24. 

2. Jacob, — Chapters 25 to 36. 

3. Joseph, — Chapters 37 to 50. 

These also are only general divisions for ease of re- 
membering. So that, in all, five divisions are made, 
relating respectively to Adam, Noah, Abraham, Jacob 
and Joseph. Isaac has only mention with others ; only 
a single chapter is given exclusively to him. 

We also notice that Adam's family occupies five chap- 
ters, Noah's six, and Abraham's the rest of the book, 
thirty-nine. The history of Abraham and his family 
occupies three and a-half times the space, yet only 
covers a seventh of the time. Evidently Abraham is 
the important character. All the foregoing chapters 
are then only introductory to Abraham. This is in 
accord with the plan of the Bible as we have seen. 
Israel, of whom Abraham is the progenitor, is the 
great theme and all else accessory only. So that we 
are to enter the study of the Bible, and especially of 
Genesis, with the understanding that this is the great 
subject, and that all preceding is only introductory, 
and that only so much is given as is necessary to a 
right introduction to, and study of, the history of the 
chosen people. 

Genesis is divided into ten narratives, each of which 
commences with the words, "These are the gener- 
ations of " Once it is, " This is the book of the 

generations of " So we have the history intro- 
duced of the heavens and the earth (2 : 4), Adam (5 : 1), 
Noah (6 : 9), Sons of Noah (10 : 1), Shem (11 : 10), 



S6 The Bible As It Is 

Terah (n : 27), Ishmael (25 : 12), Isaac (25 : 19), 
Esau (36 : 1), Jacob (37 : 2). This is a scriptural way 
of beginning a narrative. So the history of Christ in 
Matthew begins. These divisions could be followed 
as a method of study, but with our plan this would 
divide the matter into too many parts and fail to give 
that sweep we desire. It is well to notice these in 
passing, however. 

The order of study that we shall follow will be : 1, 
The Creation ; 2, Eden and the Fall ; 3, The Flood ; 4, 
Origin of the Nations; 5, Abraham; 6, Jacob; 7, 
Joseph. We will group around these the subsidiary 
topics. 



CHAPTER III 

THE CREATION 

Genesis i, 2. 

The study of the Creation well deserves a larger 
place than is usually given to it. While it is true that 
the space devoted to any event is some guide to its im- 
portance, this is not an infallible guide. For here we 
have but two chapters, yet they are of vital and far-reach- 
ing importance. Libraries have been written upon them. 
This subject lies at the basis of all modern science and 
thought, and here are the great questions which vex 
the mind to-day. . Therefore to pass it over with a 
mere enumeration of the items is not true study. We 
may be mistaken in our conceptions, yet any study is 
better than neglect. 

The topical parts of the narrative are as follows : 

1. The Creation of the world and its physical and 
animal contents. 

2. The Creation of Man. 

The first chapter of Genesis is the key to the whole 
Bible. We are struck with its simplicity, — it contains 
but about 1,000 words; also with its sublimity, com- 
pared to all other cosmogonies. It evidences divinity 
in its structure as well as in the scientific accuracy of 
its teachings. 

57 



58 



The Bible As It Is 



The opening sentence is one of the most weighty in 
the Bible. " In the beginning God created the heaven 
and the earth.' ' Dr. Murphy says : "It denies athe- 
ism, for it assumes the being of God. It denies poly- 
theism, for it confesses the one Eternal Creator. It 
denies materialism, for it asserts the creation of matter. 
It denies pantheism, for it assumes the existence of 
God before all things and apart from them. It denies 
fatalism, for it involves the freedom of the Eternal 
Being " (Commentary on Genesis, p. 30). 



1. The Godhead in Creation. 

The scriptures teach that the several persons of the 
Trinity had a part in creation. The first verse of the 
chapter might be translated, "In the beginning the 
Godhead created the heaven and the earth." The 
word in the original is plural. God the Father, God 
the Son, God the Holy Spirit had special spheres in 
creation. Some of the scriptures which teach this are 
as follows : " There is one God the Father, of whom 
are all things, and we unto Him ; and one Lord Jesus 
Christ, through whom are all things, and we through 
Him" (1 Cor. 8: 6). "By whom also He made 
the worlds" (Heb. 1:2). "In Him were all things 
created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things 
visible and things invisible, whether thrones or domin- 
ions or principalities or powers ; all things have been 
created through Him, and unto Him ; and He is 
before all things and in Him all things consist " (Col. 



The Creation 59 

1: 16, 17). "The Spirit of God moved upon the 
face of the waters " (Gen. 1:2). "By His Spirit He 
hath garnished the heavens. The Spirit of God hath 
made me" (Job 26 : 13; 33 : 4). 

So that the teaching of scripture as to creation is 
that God the Father is the ultimate source of all ; 
Christ was the active agent in the creation or forma- 
tion of all and the Holy Spirit the source of life of all. 
This agrees with the teachings of science of the three 
great unities in nature, a unity of substance, a unity 
of form, and a unity of life. 

2. Extent of the Six Days' Creation. 

We need to enquire how far the account in this 
chapter extends. The verse, "In the beginning God 
created the heaven and the earth," is generally inter- 
preted of the entire universe. It may be applied to 
that, but it is not so used here. The "heaven" here 
mentioned is not the heaven of the universe of fixed 
stars. It is defined in the eighth verse as " the firma- 
ment," that is our earth's heaven or immediate sur- 
roundings. 

A scholar states: "The expression, 'the heavens 
and the earth,' was among the Hebrews the common 
designation for the world, for which the Old Testa-^* 
ment has no single expression. It always means the 
terrestrial globe and its aerial firmament." The stars 
in the Fourth Day's work in connection with the sun 
and moon are the planets only. We need not then 
look further in this chapter than the solar system, of 



60 The Bible As It Is 

which our earth is part and with which it is so closely 
connected. The boundless universe of fixed stars is 
mentioned in other parts of scripture, but not here. 

Undoubtedly, the earth and the entire solar system, 
being parts of the universe, were created, so far as 
their original form and subsequent formation, at the 
same time as the universe, for all are one in substance 
and general form and in the energies that animate 
them. We must notice that no time is mentioned 
when the earth was created or the length of time for 
the process. All that is said on these points is that it 
was " In the beginning." 

3. State of the Earth Before the Six Days' 
Creation. 

The next point necessary to a right understanding 
of the chapter is the state of the earth before the Six 
Days' Creation began. • " The earth was waste and 
void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and 
the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.' ' 
Here is a change from the authorized version, which 
reads, "the earth was without form and void." The 
two statements are radically different. The revised 
translation is the true one. It describes not chaos or 
the primeval state of an unformed earth, but a state 
of desolation. The same word is used in Jer. 4 : 23, 
where the prophet sees in vision the earth after the 
desolations of the last day. 

Again the Bible statement is that the earth was 
covered or largely covered with water just before the 



The Creation 6l 

Six Days' work began. This is not chaos or the 
primeval form of earth. It shows the earth in a 
spherical shape, and under the ocean must have been 
a solid floor or crust of earth with its series of 
rocky strata. This was a comparatively finished state 
of earth, and far from the idea generally held of a 
chaotic state. All that intervenes between the original 
creation of the earth and its state as here described is 
passed over in silence. 

There is therefore an interval between the first and 
second verses. In that interval lies all geology tells 
us of. The history of the formation and after progress 
of the earth is there. This includes all up to the 
beginning of the Six Days' Creation. Here is where 
the fossil creatures lived and died. All this is passed 
over in silence in the Bible account. It takes up the 
story after the desolations which geology tells us ended 
that time. This left the world as stated, " waste and 
void." So we do not have to read into this chapter 
the account of the long ages in which were formed the 
earth's crust with its countless races of fossil creatures. 

Science and the Bible agree that our present order 
of nature is a late and comparatively recent one as 
compared with the geologic ages. 

It is interesting to notice here that geology tells us that 
there was such a time or age or series of ages of com- 
parative desolation just before our present races of ani- 
mals and plants, and, especially, just before man came. 
The Great Ice Age was such a state of earth. Geology 
tells us that the ice was 1,000 feet thick over Cincinnati 



62 The Bible As It Is 

and 10,000 feet thick over New England. The south- 
ern ice was 12,000 feet thick, as shown by its marks 
on the mountains of South America. The darkness 
was intense. The whole lasted 200,000 years. 

Without sunlight and with such a climate the earth 
might have been well described as " waste and void. M 
Whether this was the age the Bible account refers to we 
cannot say, but it corresponds to it in many respects. 

The Six Days' Creation then is to be regarded, as 
plainly shown in the chapter, as one of a series of 
creations, in which the earth is repopulated and pre- 
pared for the use of man. Man is the great object in 
the divine mind. Even the past ages are intended 
to prepare the earth for him. Its wealth of coal and 
oil and gas and metals and rocks were all in the mind 
of God intended for man. He rilled the cellar with 
fuel and other necessaries before He brought the fami- 
lies of living creatures upon it. Here is an illustration 
of the prevenient grace of God. 

4. The Six Days' Creation. 
The Six Days' Creation lies in two parallel groups as 
shown in the following list. The opposite days cor- 
respond to each other. 

I. Light. IV. The Sun, Moon and Planets. 

II. Waters and Atmosphere. V. Water and Air Animals. 
III. Land and Vegetation. VI. Land Animals and Man. 

The order of the Six Days' Creation should be 
noticed and learned, for there is a deep spiritual lesson 



The Creation 63 

to be learned from it, which we will consider at the 
close. We will examine each day's work separately. 

We need to notice the scientific order in which the 
creative days are given. First the elements, light and 
air, then vegetation, after that the lowest forms of 
living creatures and succeeding them the higher orders 
and man last of all. This is the order science tells of 
also. The earth was in darkness and largely covered 
with water. Vegetation preceded animal life and the 
lowest orders came first and man was the last that 
appeared. In view of the fact that this account has, 
as all know, been in writing for thousands of years and 
while the world was in ignorance of all this, we must 
here see evidence, as Dana the geologist writes as 
quoted before, that a divine hand gave the account. 

The study of the succeeding days will disclose 
other facts of this kind. 

1. The First Day gave light. Not that this was 
the first appearance of light in the universe or even in 
the earth. The account does not say that. It simply 
speaks of light on the earth. The sun, whose relations 
to the earth are fixed in the Fourth Day's work, was 
then shining, but the dense vapors excluded its rays 
from earth. The First Day's work then was the ad- 
mission of some light through the vapors with which 
the earth was surrounded. Light must precede the 
life of vegetation and animals. 

2. The Second Day gives the formation of the 
present atmosphere. The atmosphere of the early 
ages of earth was pestilential with carbonic gas. It was 



64 The Bible As It Is 

in this that the dense forests of ferns and other geologic 
plants grew. This was utterly unfit for our present 
order of animals and especially man. Dense vapors 
preceded the Six Days' Creation and rested on the 
ocean's surface. The lifting of these and their 
cleansing from the deadly gases which they contained 
was the Second Day's work. The suspension of this 
mass of vapors would form " the waters which are 
above the earth." 

3. The Third Day's work was the elevation of 
some of the earth's surface above the ocean's surface 
and the sprouting of the first forms of vegetable life. 
The earth has had many such depressions and eleva- 
tions of its surface, as is well known. How quickly 
these took place is a matter of dispute in science. That 
God could do this quickly, and, indeed, that it has 
occurred quickly, the history of our earth shows, some 
such changes are matter of record in historic times. 
The clothing of this part of the earth with vegetation 
was the Third Day's work. We notice the botanical 
order in which the plants are named, " grass, herb, 
tree," and that they come before animals as the neces- 
sary food of most of them. 

4. The Fourth Day's work is the adjustment of 
the sun, moon and planets in their relationship to 
earth. We must keep out of mind any idea of the 
sun's creation as referred to here. The word 
''create" is not used of this day's work. The sun 
was long in use and as it is now. But the position or 
orbit or relation of the earth to the sun has undergone 



The Creation 65 

changes, as we know. This day's work was as stated, 
" for signs and seasons and for days and for years/ ' 
and " for lights." We have here the apparent purpose 
of a greater degree of light than at the first and a 
different relation of the earth to the heavenly bodies, 
so as to produce not only the rotation of seasons, but 
also the calculation of years and days and other 
periods. Some scientists have said that the earth's 
axis was once parallel to the sun and not inclined as 
now. This made fixed seasons. The inclination 
would correspond to such a work as the Fourth Day's. 
5. The Fifth Day's work was the production of 
animal life of the lowest orders. The English words 
do not indicate with exactness the nature of each class. 
They are all egg-producing creatures and these are the 
lowest forms. They are also named in scientific order. 

(1) "Let the waters bring forth the moving 
creature that hath life," literally let the waters swarm 
with swarmers. The immense animal population of 
the ocean is here meant; not the fish, they come 
later and are an advanced order, but the lowest orders 
of water animals. 

(2) "Let fowl fly above the earth." These are 
not the birds, for they are mentioned later as " winged 
fowl." These are the insects and properly come 
after the lowest form of animals in the waters from 
which the insects largely come. 

(3) "Great sea monsters" are named next. 
These are the reptile orders. The word "sea" is 
used in the Bible for any body of water. 



66 The Bible As It Is 

(4) Fish are meant in the next description. 
"Living creatures that moveth, that the waters 
brought forth abundantly," referring to the immense 
fertility and increase of the fish orders. 

(5) Birds are meant in the " winged fowl." 
These come last and are highest in the egg-producing 
class. 

6. The Sixth Day's work gives the mammals, the 
highest order of animals, ending with man. They 
are named as follows, "Living creatures/ ' " cattle/ ' 
1 ' creeping things, "*' beasts of the earth. ' ' The previous 
day's creation was from the waters, these are from the 
earth, " Let the earth bring forth.' ' The first named 
are the smaller earth animals ; the cattle, the domestic 
orders; the "beasts of the earth," the beasts of prey, 
the highest in the order of intelligence. 

5. The Method of Creation. 
The whole account gives us the idea of a succession 
of creative changes. Whether the old species were 
used in the creation of the new species we are not in 
so many words told. The expressions " Let the 
earth bring forth.' ' . . . " Let the waters bring 
forth," some claim may include such a process. But 
it was a creation and not the long and infinitesimal 
changes that the unproven theory of Evolution proposes. 
God could have created new species by extraordinary 
births of new from old and this is proposed as a solu- 
tion by some. This would agree with the way the 
fossil creatures came and went. They are successive 



The Creation 67 

in history, come in suddenly in small numbers, grow 
to great proportions and pass out as suddenly as they 
came. In our present order all the species are 
simultaneous and appear to have come in nearly so. 
In view of the fact that no case of Evolution is 
known, nor any law by which it could have taken 
place, and that it is admitted by its teachers to be un- 
demonstrated, we may dismiss the matter so far as it 
seems to controvert the Bible account. A book which 
has proven right on so many well known matters may 
be trusted where we do not understand the facts, as in 
the origin of life and its forms, the laws of heredity 
and countless mysteries in all nature about us. 1 

6. The Creation of Man. 

The creation of man was a special act of the God- 
head. It was preceded by a special consultation : 
"Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." 

It is also expressly said, " God created man in His 
own image, in the image of God created He him : 
male and female created He them." In the next 
chapter the process is described. "The Lord God 
formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed 
into his nostrils the breath of life ; and man became a 
living soul." The whole narrative expressly forbids 
the idea that he had any connection with the brutes, 

1 See "The Other Side of Evolution' * by the author and publisher 
of this book. It has an introduction by Prof. George Frederick 
Wright of Oberlin University and gives in popular form the arguments 
for and against the theory of evolution. 150 pages, price, 60 cents, 
Postage, 10 cents. 



68 The Bible As It Is 

whatever might have been his origin. The descrip- 
tion of that first man is utterly inconsistent with the 
idea presented to us by the theory of Evolution. 
Adam was created in the image and likeness of God. 
A brute, whatever in the way of soul might be im- 
parted to him suddenly or gradually, is not in the 
likeness or image of God. We have the full account 
Of one who was in the image of God. Christ is thus 
described. "The effulgence of His glory, and the 
very image of His substance " (Heb. i : 3). By com- 
paring the two, the incongruity of an ape-man as an 
image of God appears. The two accounts are utterly 
inconsistent with each other. But, as has been re- 
marked, its advocates admit that it is an unproven 
theory, so we may dismiss it from further consideration 
here. The other scripture writers and Christ Himself 
accept this account and so may we (Matt. 19 : 4-6). 

The objection to the Bible account seems to come from 
grotesque ideas of the process and from facetious jests 
founded upon it. There is nothing grotesque in the 
story itself. The dust of which man's body was made 
means all the earthy constituents of which the human 
form is composed, whether solid or fluid or gaseous. 
That man's body is composed of these all admit, as also 
that his moral and spiritual nature is from God, and 
this is the main point in the scripture narrative. As 
to the actual process the psalmist gives a picture. 
Speaking of himself, but with evident reference to 
man's original creation, he says, " My frame was not 
hidden from thee when I was made in secret, and cu- 



The Creation 69 

riously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 
Thine eyes did see mine unperfect substance and in 
Thy book were all my members written which day by 
day were fashioned when as yet there was none of 
them 7 ' (Ps. 139: 15, 16). The same figure Job re- 
fers to when he says in his distress, "Naked came I 
out of my mother's womb and naked shall I return 
thither " (Job, 1: 21; 10: 9). We ourselves are con- 
stantly speaking of "mother earth" and the womb 
of earth. A body when it dies passes through the 
same changes reversed. The breath leaves it, it be- 
comes corrupt and finally disintegrates and at last 
all that is left is dust. Now reverse that process. Let 
that dust reform and the constituent fluids and gases re- 
turn. Let breath enter in and it is as at first. It cer- 
tainly ought not to be a repugnant or difficult con- 
ception to a believer in the resurrection. 

The creation of man is referred to three times in 
the first five chapters of Genesis. The scripture 
method is to give the outlines of an event and then 
return and fill in the details. In the second account 
(Gen. 2) the former account is referred to ; the supple- 
mentary facts are then given. In the second account 
the general creation of plants and animals is supposed 
to be known. "The plant of the field and the herb 
of the field " are the domestic plants man has had, as 
all evidence testifies, from the beginning. 

The standpoint of the second account is stated to 
be at a point between the finishing of the six days' 
work and before the creation of man. Then ensues 



70 The Bible As It Is 

an account of the creation of man in detail and there 
follows an account of the preparation of the garden 
and the trees necessary, man's introduction to it, the 
animal creation and the creation of woman. There 
is no difficulty here. The statement that no plant of 
the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field 
had yet sprung up has no reference to the whole vege- 
table kingdom, but only to the trees and plants needed 
by man which the narrative proceeds to relate God 
made or planted in the garden. So also the narrative 
of the creation of the beast of the field and the fowl 
of the air. These are the domestic creatures which 
all history shows have been with man from the earliest 
knowledge we have of him. To have left man with 
the order of plants and animals of the earth at large, as 
all the other creatures were, would have been to leave 
him in a wild jungle or forest or wilderness, which was 
the state of the earth at the close of the sixth day, and 
before the creation of man. This is all the narrative 
means by the statement as to the trees and herbs. The 
garden with its vegetation and animals is the subject 
of the chapter and the statements must not be stretched 
further than its own declared subject. The writer in 
the second narrative supposes the existence and knowl- 
edge by the reader of the first narrative and cannot 
therefore be contradictory or erroneous. It is not a 
recapitulation of the third day's work. That is ended 
as he expressly states. This is supplementary and 
only refers to the garden and its use for man. 

The creation of woman came last of all. The 



The Creation 71 

origin of sex is one of the mysteries of science, as 
much so as the Bible account. There are deep physi- 
ological mysteries here hinted at (Gen 1 : 27). All 
we can do is to accept the account as it is given, a 
supernatural event thus described in the only language 
we are capable of hearing. Other scripture accepts 
the account (1 Cor. 11:12; 1 Tim. 2:13; Matt. 
19: 4; Mark 10: 6, 7). 
-^vAxvA/^t^s^As Matthew Henry quaintly says/" Wo man 
f *<X. madeoj^ajilLOUt of the side of Adam, n 



mad^oj^ajilLOut of the side of Adam, not out of his 

head to toplnm, not out of his feet to be trampled on 

^w-oX^- by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, un- 

***-« der his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be 

1&%aM~c( beloved" (Commentary). 

L^^^. &KJ& ^^^tWGREEMENT WITH SCIENCE. 

We will sum up here the points of agreement with 
the facts of science. 

There are great facts we need to notice here. In 
these there is agreement with science as there is in all 
the Bible statements when each is rightly read. 

1. Science and the Bible tell us there was a Be- 
ginning. All the operations of nature point back to 
a time when all we see had a beginning. 

2. That beginning was creation. There is no 
other conceivable origin. Science admits that. 

3. It is also now conceded by science that the 
originating of the universe by an act of volition by 
God is perfectly supposable and indeed the only 
origin. All forces are one. Light is formed from heat, 



72 The Bible As It Is 

and that from chemical action in combustion, ana 
that from electrical action, and that from motion, and 
that again from heat, and so all forces are forms of 
one force. It is also believed that all substances are 
one, and that a form of energy, So all is resolved 
into energy and that is stated as the product or effect of 
volition. So here science meets creation. God willed 
and the universe existed, probably in some primeval 
form of substance. 

4. The glory and immensity of the universe is 
alike made known to us by the Bible and science. 
There is no grotesque description such as we find in 
the cosmogony of ancient peoples. This, written so 
long ago when the world was in darkness about the 
great universe, contains no error on this great ques- 
tion. 

5. Astronomy tells us that the solar system, which is 
the subject, as we have seen, of the Bible creation 
account, is unique in the heavens. It is far away 
from other worlds and in a region where stars are 
scarce. If we represent the sun and planets by a 
farmer and his eight sons living within a mile of each 
other, and the nearest neighbor five thousand miles 
away, we have the relative distance of the solar system 
from other worlds. Again, its orbit is unique. No # 
other is so circular and regular as ours. And further, 
we see no other worlds whose state is that which is fit 
for organic life. So that altogether it looks like the 
subject of a special operation ; not that it was created 
at any different time or by any different process, but 



The Creation 73 

that it was the subject of special care and for special 
use. 

6. As to the whole creative order and history, Dr. 
Murphy states its evidence as follows: "The eleva- 
tion of extensive tracts of land, the subsidence of the 
overlying waters into comparative hollows, the clari- 
fying of the atmosphere, the creation of a fresh supply 
of plants and animals on the newly formed continent, 
compose a series of changes which meet the geologist 
again and again, as he penetrates into the bowels of 
the earth' ' (Commentary on Genesis). 

7. Geology tells us, as we have seen, of conditions 
on earth which agree with the statement of its state 
before the six days' work began; and it tells that the age 
after the coming of man was a warm one, that verdure 
reached the poles and that tropical animals lived there. 
This agrees with the Bible account of man's being able 
to live in nakedness and the climate necessary for 
that. 

8. The order in which the creation came is the order 
that science tells us is the right one ; the elements before 
life, the botanical order of plants, the scientific classifi- 
cation of animals and, last of all, man. 

9. Our order is new and late and far in advance 
of all before. So says science. It was "all very 
good," the Bible tells also. 

10. Man came in last, both the Bible and science 
tell us. He appears as the climax of creation. No 
new creations have come in since, both the Bible and 
science agree in saying. 



74 The Bible As It Is 

ii. There is an unbridged gulf between man and 
the brute. His language, his faculties, and especially 
his spiritual nature form impassable barriers. 

1 2. Tradition and history agree with the Bible as to 
the centre from which man diverged; they also affirm that 
the noblest races are nearest that centre, retrograding 
as they recede ; that the cereals also came from that 
centre, and that it is the centre of the habitable earth. 
The name of the first man, as given on the Assyrian 
monuments, is Adatnu. 

13. The time of man's appearance is coming nearer 
in the calculations of scientists to that given in the Bible. 
The vast periods of antiquity for man's history are 
being abandoned. Geology and archaeology are com- 
bining to give shorter periods. The Egyptian chronol- 
ogy has been reduced from over five thousand years to 
half of that time, and that of China and India in like 
manner. 

Dr. Cunningham Geike sifts all the evidence for 
these extreme dates for the origin of man obtained from 
deposits, remains, implements, changes of climate, geo- 
logic evidence, monuments, data of ancient peoples 
and civilizations and the rise of races of man, and 
finds it wanting in proof of any great antiquity. 
(Hours with the Bible, ch. IX. X. B.). 

Prof. George Frederick Wright tells us, " The 
glacial period did not close more than ten thousand 
years ago. This shortening of our conceptions of the 
ice age renders glacial man a comparatively modern 
creature" (Homiletic Review, May, 1900). 



The Creation jS 

The length of the Six Days is a subject of interest. 
The view that these were long geologic ages is unneces- 
sary in the interpretation here given. No long age 
would be necessary for the incoming of light or for 
the clearing of the atmosphere or the elevation of a 
portion of the earth's surface or even the sprouting of 
that primeval vegetation. The coming of species after 
the cosmical changes of the Fourth Day seems to call 
for longer time, but on the whole we need not suppose 
extreme periods called for. On the other hand we 
should not interpret these days to be our short days 
of twenty-four hours. The earth's revolutions have 
been changed since its creation, and we have evidence 
of some changes in the course of the Six Days' crea- 
tion that we have been studying, so that, while they were 
not long ages, they were not days as measured by our 
clocks. 

8. The Spiritual Lessons of Creation. 

Creation contains the germs of all spiritual truth. 
It is important to study these in connection with the 
narrative itself. 

i. We learn that life can come only from God. 
Science has acknowledged that no such thing as life 
without preexisting life is known. Not the smallest 
seed or germ has ever been originated by man or has 
ever come spontaneously into existence, to man's 
knowledge. So in the spiritual world there is no 
spiritual life except as it is from God. 

2. Creation in the scriptures is a type and repre- 



76 • The Bible As It Is 

sentation of regeneration. " If any man is in Christ 
he is a new creature,' ' (marg. there is a new creation). 
(2 Cor. 5 : 17). " We are His workmanship created 
in Christ Jesus for good works ' ' (Eph. 2 : 10). "Put 
on the new man which after God hath been created in 
righteousness and holiness of truth" (Eph. 4: 24). 
" The new man which is being renewed unto knowledge 
after the image of Him that created him " (Col. 3 : 10). 
So that we may look for light both upon creation and 
upon regeneration from this resemblance. First we 
see that the state of the earth typifies the state of man 
before regeneration. The earth was " waste and void." 
The sinner in the Bible is declared lost, sick, dead, 
without hope. What he needs is a new creation. 
Except a man be born again, from above, of the 
Spirit of God, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 
Even if there were some forms or germs of life in that 
old world before creation, they had reached their 
limit of development. It was a dying world into 
which God introduced that new creation, for it was a 
new creation, as all science tells us, utterly unlike the 
monstrous creatures which went before it. 

3. The work of the separate persons of the Trinity 
is seen in regeneration as in creation. God the Father 
gives a people to Christ, Christ redeems them, the 
Holy Spirit gives them life and perfects all beauty and 
fruitfulness in them. 

4. The process of this regenerating work is illus- 
trated in the Six Days' Creation. The earth was in 
darkness. So is the sinner. He does not see his 



The Creation 77 

own state or need. Into this darkness God by the 
gospel sends light. In the Second Day's work the 
atmosphere typifies the work of the Holy Spirit, 
breathing life ; and in the Third, the separating of land 
and water, the new sphere of that new life. In the 
Fourth Day the appearance of the celestial bodies in- 
dicates the heavenly lights by which man now walks, 
and in the work of the further days the fruit of the 
Spirit and the full-grown man in the image of Christ 
are typified. 

5. In creation man received two great gifts, mar- 
riage and the Sabbath. These are the foundations 
respectively of the state and the church. On these 
all rest. The Sabbath thus lies at the foundation of 
human history. It was not first given in the law to 
Moses. It was then only reestablished for Israel. 

9. The New Creation. 
A New Creation is prophesied in scripture. We 
may learn what it will be from the one we are now 
studying. It, too, is to come on an earth in ruins, it is 
to be by divine interference and is to lead to a better 
state as that creation was better than the one before. 
The scriptures which speak of it are Isa. 65: 17; 
66 : 22 ; 2 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 21 : 1. 



CHAPTER IV 

EDEN AND THE FALL 

Genesis 2, 3. 

The account of man's origin, state and fall, lies at the 
basis of all true history, science, philosophy, theology 
and Christian experience. The Bible teachings can- 
not be mastered until this with its great principles are 
understood. An outline is given following this for 
closer study. 

The truth of the narrative is certified to by Christ 
and the writers of scripture. There is not the slight- 
est intimation given of other views of it. All the 
traditions of mankind also point in the same direc- 
tion. Man's happy state is one of the memories 
of mankind. The tree of life was widely known 
among Hindus, Persians, Arabs, Greeks and Assyrians. 
The Fall is also universally known. The features 
given in the Bible account, the woman, the tree and 
the serpent, are grouped together among many peoples. 
As Dr. Geike says, " It finds an echo in every religion 
of the world." The Fall is pictured on the monu- 
ments of Assyria. 

The sacred books of India give the account of the 
Fall. The first man is called Adima. The first 
woman Heva. They were tempted to evil also, but 
Adima tempted Heva. 

78 



Eden and the Fall 79 

The remains left by the cave-men and other prehis- 
toric races tell of just such a state as man would be 
in after his expulsion from the garden, without 
weapons, tools, houses, and with only a scant covering 
of skins. Geology tells of an age, about that time, 
when the earth's climate would permit the state of 
nakedness related. In short the Bible account agrees 
with all the facts. 

The account of the Fall is often quoted in subsequent 
scripture and by New Testament writers. Christ 
himself quotes it (Matt. 19:4, 5; Mark 10:6, 7), 
and all without any intimation that it was other than 
true. Paul bases the doctrine of sin and death and 
redemption upon it (Rom. 5:12-21). Many cita- 
tions will be given in the outline of study. The study 
of this narrative requires that we examine the follow- 
ing points: 1. Man and Eden. 2. The Probation. 
3. The Tempter. 4. The Temptation. 5. The Sin. 
6. The Judgment. 7. Consequences of the Fall. 
8. Redemption. 9. Spiritual Teachings. 

1. Eden and Original Man. 

Eden is often spoken of in scripture. It is also 
accepted as a definite geographical location (Gen. 
13 : 10 ; Isa. 51:3; Ezek. 28 : 13 ; Joel 2 : 3). 

The location of Eden is given at that point at which 
man is universally believed to have originated. It is 
at the centre of the habitable earth, the best point for 
distribution over the world. It is where the race is 
found at its greatest perfection and where the tradi- 



80 The Bible As It Is 

tions of man all agree was his original home. The 
changes of time have made the identification of the 
exact place uncertain. 

It was in a garden which was in the general district 
called Eden. The names of two of the rivers remain 
to the present time so that we know the general but 
not the particular site. It was a prepared place for 
the new race. The account in the second chapter 
tells of a special creation for this garden with special 
plants and trees. And the testimony of all time is that 
man has had these common plants from his earliest 
history. 

The state of primeval man is attested as equal to 
the best of modern civilization physically and es- 
pecially in dimensions of the brain. The remains of 
the prehistoric man are equal to the best of modern 
man in brain capacity. Nor is there any time or 
space for the theoretical history of Evolution from the 
brute. The facts so far agree with the Bible ac- 
count. 

Adam, in the Bible account, is described as perfect, 
but not perfected. He was of capable mind, but not 
of experienced nature. He was in the image of God 
and that implies spiritual, mental and physical per- 
fection. He enjoyed the frequent presence of Jehovah, 
who walked in the garden, sometimes at the cool of the 
day, as we are told, and called Adam to personal 
fellowship with Him. We must not think that this was 
God the Father. It was Jehovah, the second person 
of the Trinity, who often so manifested Himself to 



Eden and the Fall 81 

man afterwards. Adam was then under the personal 
care and teaching of Jehovah. 

2. The Probation. 
We must distinguish between probation and tempta- 
tion. Adam was submitted to probation, but this did 
not necessarily involve temptation. God does not 
tempt man (Jas. i : 12-15), but He does submit him 
to trial and to proving (Deut. 8 : 2, 3). 

The necessity for the presence of evil and tempta- 
tion we cannot wholly solve. The origin of evil is the 
darkest and deepest problem which comes to us in 
this life. We may, however, see some light upon it 
here. The highest character is that which comes 
from choice and especially at the cost of struggle and 
after heroic victory. This would not be possible 
unless there was an alternative choice. To give free 
agency, the requirement of the highest moral beings, 
and not to give any choice would be farcical. The 
choice was the simplest possible. Less suggestion of 
temptation could scarcely be presented, a garden full 
of trees and only one prohibited, with the Tree of 
Life ever present giving full protection against sin. 
Compare this with the law afterwards and its hun- 
dreds of commandments and rites. Then their state 
was the freest from incitement to evil. Nor have we 
reason to think that the tempter had such power as since. 
There was no pressure of need and want to make the 
taking appear necessary. 

The test man was submitted to was just such a test 



82 The Bible As It Is 

as was best suited to his infantile being. It was such a 
test as we sometimes submit a child to. There is noth- 
ing puerile about it when looked at from that standpoint. 
Adam was a perfect man but needed discipline. This 
involves trial and effort against wrong and for right. 
There is no perfected created character without this. 
The presence of the Tree of Knowledge awoke in him 
the sense of obligation and obedience and raised up a 
standard of right and wrong and affirmed the right of 
Jehovah to command. The Tree of Life was sacramen- 
tal. It was to Adam what the Lord's supper is to us. 
These two trees represented all the gospel does to us. 
The Tree of Knowledge stood for sin and the turning 
from it for repentance. The Tree of Life represented 
Christ in the gospel and the eating of it faith in Christ. 
So Adam's gospel was the same as ours. There is not, 
nor ever has been, any other gospel. 

Adam was left free to act. He could not have 
been otherwise and been in the likeness of God or a 
creature worthy of God's purposes. If unable to 
choose wrong or right he would have been but an 
animal. It was this very liberty which made him a 
man. It is the right use of it which makes a saint and 
the wrong use, a devil. 

It is probable that Adam would have been lifted 
out of the state of probation, if he had kept himself 
from sin, into a higher state, perhaps by translation as 
Enoch. The life of a thousand years, of which all 
afterwards fell short, seems to fix that as man's 
given term at first. The medical men tell us that 



Eden and the Fall 83 

there is no reason why man should not now live one 
thousand years if his organs were in a perfect state, 
and he were in a suitable environment. 

How long Adam lived in Eden we do not know. 
His third son, Seth, was born 135 years after Adam's 
creation and Cain, and no doubt Abel, were grown to 
manhood before Seth was born, so there is room for 
considerable time in Eden. His life was a happy one, 
we know. He had occupation without toil and the 
rural life which to-day is man's ideal life. 

3. The Tempter. 

The tempter must be distinguished from the 
creature used by him as an agent. Satan does not 
reveal himself directly to man. Here he uses a beast 
of the field, that is a wild animal as distinguished from 
a domesticated animal. That it was not the serpent 
as we know it is evident. It was " more subtle than 
any beast of the field.' ' The serpent is not specially 
subtle. That it could speak and evoked no surprise 
or alarm in Eve tells us that it was some creature we 
do not now have. It was something superior to any 
animal now existing. It was not in serpent form, for 
that was its after form given as a penalty. It prob- 
ably was in human or semi-human form, perhaps a 
beautiful creature. 

It is significant that while this is the same word for 
serpent as that used for those that attacked Israel in 
the wilderness, the form that Moses raised on the pole 
was a "saraph," meaning burning or shining, from 



84 The Bible As It Is 

which we get seraphim. There may be reference here 
to the original form of the serpent. 

It was Satan, however, which animated it. Upon 
this point scripture is clear. Satan began this evil work 
with man which has lasted so long and ruinously. He 
himself had fallen from his created state, we think 
scripture teaches. He may have been led by jealousy 
towards the new being which was to take a place so 
superior to his own, and hoped by conquering him to 
use him for his own advancement or power. 

4. The Temptation. 

It began with a spiritual temptation. " Hath God 
said ye shall not eat of any tree of the garden ? " This 
was a doubt suggested as to God's goodness. It was 
and is the most subtle form of temptation. Few dis- 
believe in God's existence. Many doubt His good- 
ness or kindness. This is the beginning of nearly all 
unbelief. Here comes in the failure in prayer. Satan 
would rather have one doubt God's goodness than His 
existence. The latter would simply produce indiffer- 
ence; the former would create hatred, and that is 
Satan's state. 

After insinuating doubt of God's mercy, he comes 
with insinuation of doubt of God's justice. " Ye shall 
not surely die." Thus all forms of present day false 
religion are along the line of liberalism or the doubt 
of the penalty of sin or any particular danger in the 
next world. 

When these two great barriers are broken down, then 



Eden and the Fall 8_J 

the way is open for false belief. After distrust in God 
and disbelief in the warnings as to sin, come the false 
belief and religion, and these precede the actual sin. 
It is a common saying to-day that it makes no differ- 
ence what one's belief is, if he be sincere. This is 
nonsense. Intelligence consists in acting according to 
belief. Animals act from instinct; idiots from im- 
pulse; rational beings from belief. Therefore the 
belief must be changed with such in order to change 
the conduct. The actual temptation does not 
follow until these steps have been established. 
These were the fatal steps leading to the actual 
temptation. 

The sin of taking the fruit seems a small matter to 
be made so much of in the Bible. The gravity of a 
spiritual act does not depend on the importance of the 
material thing which leads to it. The taking of a 
pin might involve the unpardonable sin as truly as the 
taking of a life. The tearing down of a piece of 
bunting may constitute treason as truly as the sur- 
render of a fleet, indeed it may be that very thing. 
The act of taking and eating the fruit involved the 
question of belief in God's character, in His veracity, 
in the superiority of Satan to God. It affected the 
very position of God as supreme, for if He was not 
good and not true He could not be God. 

We must distinguish also between the subjective 
temptation and the objective. The former leads to 
the state of heart which makes the latter possible. If 
the distrusting state existed, it was a secondary matter 



86 The Bible As It Is 

how it manifested itself, whether in eating the fruit or 
some gross crime. 

Satan leaves the doubt to do its work. He does 
not give Eve the fruit. He lets the subjective tempta- 
tion produce its objective result. He plants the seed 
and awaits its development. 

" And when she saw the tree was good for food and 
that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was 
to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit 
thereof and did eat." Here was presented the three- 
fold temptation, "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the 
eyes, and the pride of life " (i John 2 : 16). It was 
an appeal to man's threefold nature, body, soul and 
spirit (1 Thess. 5 : 23). It was the same threefold 
temptation presented to Christ (Luke 4: 1-13). It 
was a physical and spiritual temptation. The same 
forces of temptation are still presented to man (2 Peter 
2 : 18 ; Rom. 1 : 22-31). 

5. The Sin. 
There is evidence of preparation in Eve, and doubt- 
less in Adam, for the temptation. Satan chooses such 
times and states (Luke 8 : 12). Their ready belief in 
Satan* s insinuations, their acceptance of his state- 
ments, their quick fall into his suggestion, all point to 
a previous preparedness for such sin. Eve's words 
in reply to Satan also point to unbelief and discon- 
tent. " Neither shall ye touch it lest ye die." Here 
is an addition to God's command that He did not give, 
"neither shall ye touch it," and a weakening of his 



Eden and the Fall 87 

positive threat of " ye shall surely die" into "lest ye 
die." These show first discontent with their state. 
This is generally the beginning of unbelief and sin. 
It is entirely possible in the most perfect conditions. 
Those who have most are often the most discontented. 
It was to this that Satan appealed when he said, " Hath 
God said ye shall not eat of any tree of the garden ? " 
A latent unbelief also was there not yet expressed in 
thoughts, but which Satan appealed to when he said, 
"Ye shall not surely die." This state arises from 
their neglect to eat of the Tree of Life (Gen. 3 : 22). 

From preoccupation, or greater attractions, or 
neglect, or forgetfulness, or procrastination, or any of 
the many reasons which still cause man to neglect, 
they did not eat of the Tree of Life. So to-day the 
reason temptation overcomes is for want of the strength 
and fulness that the Holy Spirit gives, and this for 
want of the union with and communion with Christ. 

Another and incidental weakness was that Eve was 
near that Tree. Prudence would have said, Keep far 
from it. She seems to have been alone also, and 
solitude has its peculiar dangers. 

The threefold temptation tells of a threefold sin. 
The sin was first spiritual, as shown, then psychical, 
then physical. Unbelief in God's goodness, accept- 
ance of a false religion, and then the physical sin 
which follows (Rom. 1 : 22-31). Israel first gave up 
belief in Moses and God, then made the golden calf, 
then fell into licentiousness (Ex. 32 : 1-6). 

There is more in the Fall than we see on the sur- 



88 



The Bible As It Is 



face. It is more than one simple act of disobedience. 
The sin was more than that. Their shame afterwards 
was sexual shame and this points to sexual sin. We 
may not here enter into this, but the whole account 
points to an orgie of sensuality. 

6. The Judgment. 

The examination first traces the sin to its source 
and the judgment begins there. The serpent, that is 
the animal used as the tempter, is first judged. 
Whatever that creature was it is remanded to a de- 
graded state where it will have no more power to 
tempt or be used as a means of temptation. There is 
to be enmity henceforth between Satan and the 
woman and his seed and hers. This reveals the pur- 
pose of Satan's attack to affiliate himself and his seed 
with mankind in alliance or amalgamation. Jehovah 
foils it by drawing a distinct line declaring the two 
irreconcilable sides. There have been the two ever 
since, Christ's and Satan's. No reconciliation is pos- 
sible between these to the end. There is to be, on the 
contrary, antagonism. The serpent is to have the 
power to persecute and impede the progress of the 
church, the serpent is to be at last crushed in its head, 
that is in Satan. The seed of the woman can be no 
other than Christ, including that larger view seen in 
its climax in the Apocalypse. 

This antagonism is seen all down the line. First 
between Cain and Abel, then between the race of 
Cain and that of Seth, between Isaac and Ishmael, 



Eden and the Fall 89 

Jacob and Esau, Israel and the surrounding nations, 
all of whom were enemies, between the righteous and 
ungodly in the Psalms, which is the great theme of 
the Psalms. This enmity was shown towards Christ 
and exists, as He foretold, between the world and the 
believer. It is seen in the conflict in heaven between 
Satan and the angels (Rev. 12) and will at last 
manifest itself in open conflict between Satan and 
Christ (Rev. 19). Only then will the serpent 
be crushed finally. Christ and John call the evil ones 
" Offspring of vipers ' ' three times (Matt. 3 : 7 ; 1 2 : 34 ; 
and 23 : 33). They have the race of the Old Serpent 
in mind. 

We are struck by the lightness of the doom on Eve A/^ 

and Adam. Subjection and increase of the pain of 
childbirth for her and labor for Adam seem not a'V- 
full measure of the threatened death. Dr. Patrick '^' 
says, " Lest Eve's fault should occasion a breach be-'^-^C 
tween them, God kindly makes this gracious promise 
of a Redeemer to depend upon Adam's union with <U[^uLj^jE 
his wife.' ' */\ (jJuLJuL*-* \ | 44^ s%a/%&*§ 

Expulsion follows. Eden is lost and closed against ^L^^u*,^ 
them forever. They go out in disgrace, in sorrow, in, v ... 1 c**-\{a 
sin, to make their way without Eden's protection and 
blessings, and, worst of all, without Jehovah's pres- 
ence and fellowship, f v • rv ^ fa U 

7. Consequences of the Fall. -^--^ 
To this event the Bible traces all the stream of sin 
and misery which has followed mankind. The 



90 The Bible As It Is 

spiritual contamination of man, the sorrows, the 
sicknesses and death which follow him, all are charged 
to that Fall. " Through one man sin entered into the 
world — and death through sin^and so death passed 
unto all men for that all sinned " (Rom. 5:12). 
All other scripture agrees with this. Man is in a 
fallen state in sin (Eph. 2:1-3; Rom. 3:9-18). 
The world is in the power of the evil one (2 Cor. 
4:4; Heb. 2:14; 1 John 5 : 19). Creation is 
fallen also (Rom. 8 : 20-22). 

This is the testimony of observation and history and 
experience. We see that man is in anything but an 
ideal state, that this was not his original state all tra- 
dition attests, and our consciousness seems to affirm. 
That some evil influence affects mankind is only too 
true. Nature suffers with us. Its creatures suffer 
and die as we do. Its tones are in the minor key as 
if they would confirm this truth. There is a pathos 
and undertone of sadness in human life which point 
to some sad disturbance and tell us that all is radically 
wrong. Death, which until that time had sway only 
over • the animals, was extended to man also. The 
medical men tell us that death is not necessary, judged 
by our organs and faculties, if in a perfect state. The 
separation of man from God is attested by his efforts 
to find God, his wanderings in these efforts and his 
sad perversions of God as he pictures Him in his idols 
and false worship. All the state declared by the 
Bible as to man's condition after the Fall is true. 

The Fall still continues. Man is still falling. 



Eden and the Fall 91 

Savage nations are not nations in a state of progress, 
but of decay. All the nations are falling save as they 
are being lifted by Christianity or its precursor, the 
religion of Israel. All the great nations of antiquity 
have fallen, the Egyptian, Assyrian, Grecian and 
Roman. The present unchristian peoples have fallen 
and are still falling, as the Chinese and the Hindus. 
Those nations which have Christianity in a perverted 
form are the " dying nations,' ' as they have been 
characterized. Only the Tree of Life will keep from 
falling a nation or individual. 

8. Redemption. 

Redemption follows. " Where sin abounded, grace 
did much more abound. " Grace was on the ground 
before sin. God in the creation chapter is named 
Elohim, the godhead ; in the account where man ap- 
pears He is named Jehovah. Whatever the views 
may be as to the composition of the record, this is a 
nearer view of God than that in material creation. It is, 
in short, the Old Testament name for Christ, the second 
person of the godhead. This is seen in the fact that 
all manifestations of God are those of Jehovah, and 
not of God the Father, " whom no man hath seen or 
can see" (1 Tim. 6: 16). Christ identifies Himself 
with Jehovah (John 12 : 41 ; Isa. 6:1; Matt, n : 10; 
Mai. 3 : 1). 

It was Christ, then, who called the guilty couple and 
adjudicated their sin. Here we can see why the 
penalty threatened was not visited upon them. It was 



92 The Bible As It Is 

said, " In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely 
die." They did not die that day nor for long after, 
nor did they die spiritually at all, for Adam is a son 
of God (Luke 3 : 38), and sons of God are not 
spiritually dead nor do they perish spiritually. Here, 
then, came in the saving work of Christ. He 
stretched over that guilty couple His redemption. The 
coats of skins were taken from animals slain and with 
these they were covered. This, if not actual sacrifice, 
contains the very element of sacrifice, one giving his 
life for another to cover that one's shame and sin. 
This was the initiation of sacrifice. It pointed to 
a Christ to come ; they were saved by Christ in His 
mediatorial work as truly as we are. 

9. Spiritual Teachings. 

Typically Adam is a representative of Christ 
(1 Cor. 15 : 22, 45). Christ is the representative of 
the race. He is held accountable as Adam was. 
His work passed out over the race as Adam's did 
(Rom. 5 : 14-19). Adam brought death, Christ 
brought life. Where Adam failed, Christ stood fast 
and resisted temptation. By one sin Adam brought 
death ; by one act of righteousness, His death, Christ 
brought life. 

Eve is a type of the church. It was from Adam's 
side she was taken (Eph. 5 : 28-32). Adam fell with (*** ' 
her. So Christ is incarnated and died for us and we sLCa~ 
with Him. It is probable that Adam had revealed to 
him much spiritual truth, for man began with such 






Eden and the Fall 93 

truth. The early nations all had purer truth than the 
later ones. 

Satan is a subject of study from this lesson. He 
is a subject of much scripture teaching. There is an 
individual called Satan, the devil, and he has subor- 
dinate assistants. There is a great realm of darkness 
in constant conflict with all that is good in heaven 
and in earth (Dan. 10:13, 20; Rev. 12; Eph. 
6:12; Job i:.2j Luke 10:18, 19; Jas. 4:7; 

1 Pet. 5:8; 2 Tim. 2 : 26). The war begun in Eden 
goes on. The temptation of man continues. The 
serpent bruises the heel of all in heavenly progress. 
His head will be finally crushed (Rev. 20 : 1-3, 10). 
The sad consequences of the Fall are to be destroyed 
(Rev. 21:4,^5). Eden is to be restored. Paradise 
is the name of the abode of God's people (Luke 23 : 43 ; 

2 Cor. 12 : 4; Rev. 2 : 7). 



CHAPTER V 
THE DELUGE 
Genesis 6-8. 

i. The Story of Adam's Family. 

What was their life after their expulsion from 
Eden ? We are not without some knowledge. They 
were naked, save as clothed with the skins of the 
animals, probably lambs, slain for them. They must 
seek shelter, must find their food, must struggle with 
the creatures for it. Naked-handed, they soon could 
sink to the level of savages. The Bible tells of the 
beginnings of the use of metals, musical instruments 
and domestic cattle ; before which they were, with- 
out these, dependent on clubs, on stone instruments, 
on the chase, or on wild fruits. They were, in short, 
just what the remains of prehistoric man show. They 
were cave men. Here is confirmation of the Bible 
story. 

The advance, however, appears to have been rapid. 
Cain builds a " city." We must not imagine a mod- 
ern city. It was a crude erection. There followed the 
invention of instruments of music, tools and weapons 
of metal, and the domestication of animals. With 

94 



The Deluge 95 

these the advance was rapid with primeval powers 
and strength and faculties. The Bible tells us that 
the first man was "in the image of God," and that 
means physical and intellectual powers. The evidence 
of archaeology tells the same story. 

If the remains of what is called prehistoric man are 
those of that time they had scattered far and wide. 
The great centres of population remained at or near 
their original home, and that we know as to general 
locality. Another fact that we must notice is the 
remarkable advance made in that old world in civili- 
zation. We have evidences of this. The Great Pyra- 
mid was erected by the descendants of, although not 
in, that antediluvian age, and shows the skill of those 
early times. It is in some respects the greatest 
building now existing. Prof. Piazzi Smyth tells 
us that the stones are laid with such skill that the 
junctures, mortar and all, may be covered with a hair. 
Prof. Flinders Petrie tells us that the stones show 
marks of the tubular and solid drill cutting a tenth 
of an inch, yet exhibit no sign of wear in the tool, 
which was edged with diamond or equally hard 
stones. It is the repository of scientific secrets also, 
showing knowledge of astronomical facts of a high 
order. 

The Bible presents us the history of two races of 
antediluvians. The course of the two races is seen in 
the tables of their descent. The line of Seth is the 
godly one. Enoch and Noah are in that line. The 
line of Cain is the ungodly race. 



96 The Bible As It Is 

2. Table of the Races of Seth and Cain. 

These ten generations have left their evidence in 
the Ten Heroes or Kings of antiquity which nearly all 
ancient peoples have in tradition. 

The remarkable longevity attributed to that age is 
not considered impossible from a scientific stand- 
point by the best physiologists. Dr. John Gardner 
writes: "Before the flood men are said to live five 
and even nine hundred years. As a physiologist, I 
can assert positively that there is no fact reached by 
science to contradict or render this improbable. It is 
more difficult, on scientific grounds, to explain why 
men die at all than to believe in the duration of life 
for one thousand years. Only from experience do we 
learn that all men in the past have died ; we infer that 
all now or in the future will die " (Longevity, p. 176). 
In the Bible view of man's creation in physical per- 
fection, which he retained through many generations 
in some degree, the gradual loss of longevity as shown 
in the table and after the flood is another evidence of 
the consistency of the Bible account. All fall short 
of a thousand years in age. That was probably the 
time of the original life which would have led to some 
superior state, perhaps translation, as Enoch, or as at 
the end of the world. 

The time when " men began to call upon the name 
of the Lord " is seen in the names ending with "el," 
the name of God. On the Cain side Mehujael, " puri- 
fied of God"; Methusael, "strengthened of God." 



The Deluge 97 

On the Seth side we find Mahalalel, "the praise 
of God." The decline of the revival is seen in 
the names also. Lamech, "strong youth," boasting 
in physical strength. Tubal-Cain, "lance-forger"; 
weapons of war, showing strife and cruelty. This 
extended to the Seth race who intermingled by 
marriage. Methusaleh, "man of the arrow"; and 
also a Lamech or "strong youth." All this agrees 
with the general statement that the earth was filled 
with violence, that is war and murder and persecu- 
tion of the godly, which began with Abel. The 
general state was as seen in the name given Noah by 
his parents, "rest," evidencing their present unrest and 
hope for the future. They were weary of violence. 

The apostasy of that old world seems to have been 
the substitution of physical strength, wealth, the 
culture of the arts and military achievement for god- 
liness. This, with the advance in the use of weapons, 
led to the reign of violence, and God in His sovereign 
wisdom brought the whole age to a close in the 
deluge. 

On the Seth side is found the godly Enoch who 
walked with God, perhaps the only one, in a world 
of sin. His taking from the earth by translation is a 
hint as to the probable means of ending the probation 
of all if they had not sinned in Eden. His taking 
before the flood is prophetic of those who also shall 
escape what the flood stands for in the future. Save 
in name only, we find that all the godly are in the 
Seth line. 



98 The Bible As It Is 

3. Commingling of the Two Races. 

We read "the sons of God saw the daughters of 
men that they were fair and they took them wives of 
all that they chose/ ' This means the mingling of 
the races of Cain and Seth. t The mingling of God's 
people with the world has been the usual cause of 
apostasy and decline and has brought down chastise- 
ment upon the whole race. The "men of renown " 
are undoubtedly the heroes to whom all ancient peoples 
look back. Their number is that of the ten genera- 
tions of Seth or the seven of the Cain race. The 
discoveries of prehistoric man give strange attestation 
to the Bible account. There are three classes of re- 
mains found from these early times. One is that of 
a mild featured, brown-haired race ; a second a sturdy 
brutal race ; the third a gigantic race whose skeletons 
measure seven and a half feet. This agrees with the 
three races given in the scripture, the race of Seth, of 
Cain and the giants named. 

The moral state is thus described : "The wicked- 
ness of man was great in the earth. Every imagina- 
tion of the thoughts of his heart was only evil con- 
tinually. . . . The earth was corrupt before God 
and the earth was filled with violence " (6: 5, 13). 
Noah was the only exception to that state. The sins of 
that age were violence and corruption with persecution 
of the godly. There seems to have been no general 
law against murder as after the flood ; nor any govern- 
ment save might. Sensual corruption also prevailed. 
Lamech's sin was an instance of many such. Polyg- 



The Deluge 99 

amy also prevailed, and intemperance, for Noah's in- 
temperance after the flood tells of even greater in- 
temperance in others. The first chapter of Romans 
tells the state of that world and God's treatment of it. 
It undoubtedly refers primarily to that age as it does 
to man in general (Rom. 1 : 18-32). 

In Job is a reference giving the state and sin 
of that time. " Wilt thou keep the old way which 
wicked men have trodden who were snatched away 
before their time, whose foundation was poured out as 
a stream, who said unto God, Depart from us and 
what can the Almighty do for (to) us. Yet He filled 
their houses with good things" (Job 22:15-18). 
Here is a distinct statement of their rejection of God. 

Prof. Taylor Lewis thus writes on the state of 
man then : " Only evil, nothing but evil, all the day 
— every day, and every moment of every day. If 
this is not total depravity, how can language express 
it ? ... It affirms that he is all wrong in all 
things and all the time. It does not mean that man 
is as bad as the devils, or that every man is as bad as 
every other, or that man is as bad as he possibly may 
be or may become. There are degrees of intensity, 
but no limit to the universality or extent of evil in the 
soul." The process of the growth of evil is here 
given. "The imagination of the thought of his 
heart. ' ' Here are the fashioned purposes, the thoughts 
from which these come, and the state of heart the 
source of all. The Spanish proverb expresses this, 
"Sow a thought and reap a wish, sow a wish and 



ioo The Bible As It Is 

reap an act." But the scripture goes deeper. It 
lays bare the nature of the heart, the abyss from which 
the feelings come. Christ opens this source of evil 
when He says, " out of the heart come forth evil 
thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, 
false witness, railings' ' (Matt. 15 : 19). 

4. God's Attitude Towards that Age. 
We read the statement that " it repented the Lord that 
He had made man on the earth and it grieved Him at 
His heart" (6:6). We must interpret this, as all 
scripture, in consistency with its own declared princi- 
ples. Every writer has this privilege. This language 
is then to be understood in the light of God's omni- 
science and knowledge of the outcome of all things 
from the beginning and His unchangeableness. What- 
ever it means, it does not mean that God did not know 
how man would turn out or what the results of his crea- 
tion would be. This is to strip God of His character 
and reduce Him to the level of ordinary beings. We 
must remember that we are in the earliest book of the 
Bible, the primer of the Bible, where God is teach- 
ing the elements of truth. We must also remember 
that God must represent Himself in human attributes 
and acting on our level in order to convey any meaning 
to our minds. He therefore speaks as we would if 
disappointed at the results. To speak in the language 
of heaven or to represent God in a purely spiritual 
light to us would be like talking science to a savage. 
As the great revelation goes on, the language is more 



The Deluge 101 

spiritual and God is revealed in higher terms, as man 
is able to apprehend Him. God is represented to man 
in motives, as in outward acts, in anthropomorphic 
terms and figures and in such attitudes. Only such 
could be understood at all. 

Another thought is that in being infinite God does 
not represent Himself as without emotions, but as 
infinite in emotions. His love is not absence of love, 
but infinity of love, so with all His qualities. God is 
grieved, infinitely grieved, at man's sin and misery, 
and pleased, infinitely pleased, at man's attainment to 
holiness and happiness. 

His decision is based on this condition, " My spirit 
shall not strive with man forever, for that he also is 
flesh ; yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty 
years " (6:6), It is in man's conscience that God's 
spirit strives, and this cannot, from the very nature of 
conscience and truth, continue forever. Conscience 
gets hardened. Truth loses its power over man by 
use. Therefore it is in mercy that God takes the sub- 
ject of that appeal away from further opportunity and 
further apostasy. 

It was also an act of mercy as well as judgment. 
The warnings were many and clear. The calls to re- 
pentance also .were many. Enoch, the seventh from 
Adam, foretold the flood and, as a prophet, called men 
to repent (Jude 14). Noah was himself a preacher 
of righteousness (2 Pet. 2:5), and, if we read rightly, 
prophesied one hundred and twenty years. The ark 
itself was a constant call to all to enter as the Church 



102 The Bible As It Is 

is to-day. We may be sure that any who applied would 
have been admitted. They had the relics of primeval 
religion. Man began with the knowledge of God as 
all old religions attest. Perhaps the Cherubim also 
were allowed to remain and by their presence warn 
man. This might have been the place of worship. 

The message to Noah to build the ark was a call of 
mercy to that world as well as of favor to himself. It 
was a step of faith to enter upon that great endeavor. 
Ridicule, expostulation, censure, persecution and 
finally neglect would follow his work. It was a work 
of great self-sacrifice. It possibly required the expen- 
diture of his entire fortune, all Upon the simple word 
of God. He is called a week before the Deluge be- 
gins. Such a pause we often see before the storm of 
vengeance. It is given in the destruction of Sodom 
and in the destruction of Jerusalem and at the last day. 

5. Evidences and Extent of the Deluge. 

There is no fact of ancient history better certified to 
than the deluge. There are said to be sixteen ancient 
accounts of it besides that in the Bible. It is re- 
corded by, or known to all peoples who have records or 
traditions. The Chaldeans, the Hindus, the Chinese, 
the Romans, Greeks, Scandinavians, the Indians and 
Mexicans of America all have the story. The best 
account is that just discovered, believed to have been 
made soon after the time by the Chaldeans. It agrees 
with the Bible account in twenty-five particulars. A 
comparison of these accounts with the Bible story shows 



The Deluge 103 

a vast difference in consistency, clearness and credibility. 
The ancient accounts from the monuments and other 
sources show the usual crudities and grotesque features 
of all such records. If the one is a copy of the others, 
the comparison shows that the Bible account bears all 
the evidences of the original by its simplicity and 
careful statements. But it is probable that none of 
them are copies of the others. All are the records of 
the event itself. 

Its universality, as far as man is concerned, is 
verified by its universal traditions. It is not necessary 
to suppose the entire earth was involved in the deluge. 
The expressions used do not call for any wider area 
of destruction than that covered by the human race. 
Mankind would, it is estimated, at that time number 
some millions. Similar expressions are used elsewhere 
of purely local and limited events. 

The region of these events is peculiarly situated. 
The level of the Black Sea is eighty-three feet above 
the Persian Gulf. A depression of this region on the 
same scale as has often occurred in historic times else- 
where, would involve the whole region for 2,000 square 
miles in an overflow covering its hills. The statement, 
" fifteen cubits and upward did the waters prevail and 
the mountains were covered" (7: 20), points by its 
comparatively small depth to a limited and local flood. 
It certainly does not seem a compatible measurement 
with the covering of such great heights as the Him- 
alayan and Rocky mountain ranges rising to the 
height of 30,000 feet. This is also intimated in the 



104 The Bible As It Is 

Creation Psalm, where it is said of the rising of the 
land at the formation of the seas, " Thou hast set a 
bound that they may not pass over ; that they turn not 
again to cover the earth " (Ps. 104 : 9). Here a uni- 
versal covering of the earth seems forbidden by the 
creative edict. 

6. Causes of the Deluge. 

We do not know, except in a general way, what were 
the direct causes of the deluge. There are many possible 
causes. The atmosphere contained much more mois- 
ture than now. The expression in the creative ac- 
count, speaking of the "waters which are above the 
heavens/ ! seems to point to such a condition. 

The giving of the rainbow as a new appearance 
after the flood also indicates some changes in the con- 
stitution of the atmospheric conditions. The gradual 
clearing of the atmosphere from the earliest age to our 
own tells of a similar state of denser moisture in the 
earth's early ages. So that we have reason, not only 
from scripture statements, but from geologic evidence, 
to believe that there was a denser mass of vapors in 
the atmosphere than we have now. The precipita- 
tion of this would be the opening of " the windows 
of heaven " not till then opened. This, with the dis- 
charge of the volumes of water from the surrounding 
seas, would answer the scripture statements and produce 
the deluge described. If it accompanied some great 
volcanic upheaval, such as has often come to earth, as 
geology and history alike testify, there would be not 



The Deluge 105 

only a flood covering that region, but extending to all 
parts of the earth. The earth has had many deluges. 
Again and again has its surface been under water. 
The presence of sea shells on the highest mountains 
attests that deluges have been among the commonest 
experiences of our globe. 

7. Chronology of the Deluge. 
The deluge is dated, and its various stages also 
given. It occurred in the six hundredth year of Noah. 
The year began at that time with the autumnal equinox, 
that is September 2 2d. It was afterwards changed by 
Moses to the spring equinox, but at this time it was in 
the fall. The dates of the deluge reduced to our time 
are as follows: Noah entered the ark November 1st. 
The deluge began November 8th. It rained forty days, 
that is to December 16th. The waters prevailed all 
winter and began to recede in May. The dove was 
sent out in July. The earth dried during July and 
August. Noah left the ark November 1st, a year from 
the time he entered it. This was the season for culti- 
vation of the land. The Bible account says that the 
flood began on the seventeenth and the earth was dried 
on the twenty-seventh. The ten days are necessary to 
bring the lunar months in which they reckoned into har- 
mony with the solar time, thus completing a full year. 

8. Lessons. 
The best review of the lessons of the deluge is to 
follow the scriptural use of it. It is referred to in the 
following passages : 



106 The Bible As It Is 

Our Lord uses it as a type of His coming. "As 
were the days of Noah, so shall be the coming of the 
Son of Man. For, as in those days which were before 
the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and 
giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered 
into the ark, and they knew not until the flood came 
and took them all away : so shall the coming of the 
Son of Man be" (Matt. 24: 37-39). Here is a 
description of a time of plenty and merriment, 
utter indifference and ignorance of the approaching 
doom. 

In the epistle to the Hebrews, Noah's faith and the 
reason and result are given. "By faith Noah, being 
warned of God concerning things not seen as yet, 
moved with godly fear, prepared an ark to the saving 
of his house ; through which he condemned the world 
and became heir of the righteousness which is accord- 
ing to faith " (Heb. n : 7). The grounds on which 
Noah believed were sufficient for all to have believed 
and his faith therefore condemned their unbelief as 
unreasonable and impious. 

The Apostle Peter u&d the ark as a type of the 
Christian life. "In the days of Noah, while the ark 
was preparing, wherein few, that is eight souls were 
saved through water ; which also after a true likeness 
doth now save you, even baptism, not the putting 
away of the filth of the flesh, but the interrogation of a 
good conscience towards God " (1 Peter 3 : 20, 21). 
The ark and Noah's entrance into it here stand for 
that open confession of Christ and entrance into Christ 



The Deluge 107 

which baptism shows (Rom. 10 : 9). The believer has 
passed from that condemned and guilty world and life 
into that new world and life typified by Noah's new 
world and life. 

Again the Apostle Peter quotes the flood in confir- 
mation of the certainty and character of the end of 
the world : "In the last days mockers shall come 
with mockery, walking after their own lusts, and say- 
ing, Where is the promise of His coming ? for, from 
the day that the fathers fell asleep, all things continue 
as they were from the beginning of the creation. 
For this they will fully forget, that there were heavens 
from of old, and an earth, compacted out of water and 
amidst water, by the word of God ; by which means 
the world that then was, being overflowed with water, 
perished ; but the same heavens that now are and the 
earth, by the same word have been stored up for fire 
(margin stored with fire) being reserved against the 
day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. 
. . . But the day of the Lord will come as a thief; 
in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great 
noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent 
heat, and the earth and the works that are therein 
shall be burned up . . . but according to His 
promise we look for new heavens and a new earth 
wherein dwelleth righteousness n (2 Pet. 3 : 3-13). 

Here the idea of the unvarying stability of nature is 
controverted and the deluge pointed to as a proof of 
mighty changes in the future as in the past. The 
destruction of that old world of life is held out as a 



108 The Bible As It Is 

proof of the destruction of the present world. It is 
also a type of that coming destruction. That did not 
annihilate the earth or destroy its substance, but the 
surface only. It was a renovation of the earth pre- 
paratory to a new order of things. But as that day 
was greater than any previous time of judgment, so 
this coming destruction will exceed that of the flood. 
We might argue from the analogy that in some way 
there will be preserved the beginnings of the new order 
which shall prevail at that time. As the earth con- 
tained the elements of its own destruction then, so it 
does now. It is lt stored with fire M as all knowledge 
of the earth's interior tells us. Its air and water are 
combustible and there are the most inflammable of 
gases, coals and oils in its interior. All that it needs 
is the word of God. The burning of worlds is often 
seen in the heavens by the astronomer. Men are to- 
day incredulous of all this as they were at the time of 
the deluge. The present state of the world will be 
like that old world in civilization, plenty and merri- 
ment, unbelief and corruption. But God's word is 
certain of fulfillment. 

The great lesson, of the deluge is one on dispensa- 
tional truth. The future has a large place in the 
Bible. It is ever pointing forward to the Day of the 
Lord, and the last book sums up all the others in its 
splendid picture of that Day. Like Enoch, some 
will be taken out of the world ; like Noah, some will 
go through the judgments of that Day. 

The new world is opened with some remarkable 



The Deluge 109 

changes. Noah builds an altar and offers burnt- 
offerings of clean animals. The mention of these 
elements of the ceremonial worship shows an early and 
a full revelation of more than is generally supposed. 
Only by divine revelation could man know that such 
would be a right way to approach God. In response 
to Noah's worship, God gives him a New Covenant. 
It is therefore given on the grounds of Christ's merits, 
which all sacrifice implies. The New Covenant re- 
moves the curse from the ground, and gives permanency 
to the seasons, perhaps the arrangement of seasons as 
we have them now. If the deluge was caused by the 
precipitation of the masses of vapors in the heavens that 
we know once existed, then there would come that 
colder state which geology tells followed the warm age 
of early man's life on earth. The rainbow was 
evidently a new phenomenon, and this shows that 
there once existed a state unlike our present cloud and 
rain climate. 

A special blessing is given Noah. "Be fruitful and 
multiply and replenish the earth." They are also 
now given animal food. 

Protection of life is given in the command to slay 
the murderer, also a promise of exemption from flood, the 
fear of which would have kept man in a state of terror. 
The storm gives the rainbow, the promise of immunity as 
well as the evidence of its passing away. The new 
world starts with better conditions as well as a wider 
display of grace. Human life is shortened but is 
pleasanter, and more safe. There is no special 



no The Bible As It Is 

religious revelation mentioned save that inferred in 
the knowledge of sacrifice. The blessings are tem- 
poral and earthly, but they show a new and closer re- 
lation to God. 

The ark is often used as a type of Christ. It 
should be more properly applied to the Christian life, 
Christ impersonal rather than Christ personal. The 
Apostle Peter thus uses it (i Pet. 3:21; also Heb. 
11:7). As the ark built by Noah saved himself and 
house, so the godly life of the church and its 
ordinances are the heavenly appointed means of sal- 
vation. 



CHAPTER VI 

THE ORIGIN OF THE NATIONS 

Genesis 9-11. 
With the beginning of the new age after the flood, 
we are introduced to the ground plan of humanity. 
Noah was heir to the whole earth, and with him God 
began the race again. All are descended from him 
as all are from Adam. So the history of the race 
begins again here. This is the beginning of all 
history, of all ethnology; for, while much may be 
learned of man before the flood, it will be little at 
best. Our present nations all began here. These 
chapters are the foundation of all we know as to 
man's early history. In the tenth chapter of Genesis 
is given what is called the Table of the Nations, in- 
cluding seventy nations, more or less, and to this all 
must go for a beginning. The study of this subject 
includes The Sons of Noah, The Dispersion, The 
Table of the Nations. 

1. The Sons of Noah. 
The three sons of Noah form the simple yet com- 
prehensive ground plan of humanity. These develop 
into the " Seventy Nations " of the tenth chapter after 
the Dispersion, which, though it precedes the Table 
of Nations, is related afterwards. 

in 



H2 The Bible As It Is 

The incident which led to the prophecy regarding 
the three sons and their descendants is characteristic 
of scripture. Much is made of names and their 
meaning in scripture, also much is made of natal con- 
ditions and events, and the doings in childhood. So 
the destiny of Ishmael was fixed, and the character of 
Jacob foretold (Gen. 21: 9, 10; 25: 24-26). So it 
was with nearly every great scriptural character. It 
was a method of divine prophecy. The incident of 
Noah's prophecy as to his sons may be studied as 
a personal family lesson, but its great meaning is 
prophetical and dispensational. 

The ordinary lessons of temperance and parental 
honor need not to be enlarged upon here. The world 
needed this lesson. The honor due the parent is 
the basis of all government, which is now to be 
developed. It is taught, and severely, with a curse 
which will not be forgotten and which the world has 
never forgotten. The authority of the parent was then 
forever established. 

It contains also a great lesson in that strange scien- 
tific and scriptural fact of heredity, whose laws are at 
the basis of all life and form the stability of nature. 
It is as true of man as of plant or animal. The traits 
of Noah's sons, that is the natural traits, follow down 
through these channels to our own time. The three 
races of man inherit the great traits of these primeval 
ancestors. The prophecy therefore rests on right and 
on natural law as well as on divine justice. It is the 
union of natural and supernatural law. 



The Origin of the Nations 113 

The threefold division of the human race prophesied 
by Noah holds good along racial, political and relig- 
ious lines. The three divisions into black, white and 
brown are the best that can be made. It is significant 
that the names of Shem, Ham and Japheth, as found 
on the Assyrian tablets, mean respectively olive-col- 
ored, sunburned and white. The social and political 
character is even more strongly marked. The superi- 
ority of the white needs no proof. The condition of 
the others likewise needs no comment. This, of 
course, applies to all as races. Individual exceptions 
of a contrary character are found and all distinctions 
are done away in Christ. The white race is the domi- 
nant race and the others are in subjection. " God shall 
enlarge Japheth.' ■ He is now the great colonizing 
race. 

The religious difference is clearly seen. The Sem- 
itic races are the religious peoples. From them come 
the great ethic religions. "Blessed be the Lord God 
of Shem, ,, marks him as the preserver of true religion, 
the priestly member of the family. From him have 
come the Jewish and Christian religions. 

There are other distinctions also clearly seen. There 
are three types of language and three orders of national 
thought : the material, the psychical, the spiritual. 
These are predominant in these three races. Ham is 
physically inclined, Japheth intellectually, and Shem 
religiously. 

All this was laid out in scripture 4,000 years ago. 
It is the administration of God in the destinies of 



ii4 The Bible As It Is 

man. God is sovereign. He has not taken us into 
His councils or given us all the reasons or the facts 
in the problem. It is no basis for personal or racial 
pride, for the proudest have been humbled to the dust 
in the course of ages and the humblest exalted. These 
are earthly relations only and in eternity may be found 
reversed. In the case of individuals, the first is made 
last, and the last, first. It may be so in races also. 

2. The Dispersion. 

The dispersion seems to have been in the days of 
Peleg, the fourth from Shem (10: 25). The event 
itself is in the narrative of the Tower of Babel. There 
is no fact better verified than the Tower of Babel. It 
was used as a place of worship to the third century 
a. d. An ancient manuscript has been found giving a 
description of it. {Expository Times ^ August, 1900.) 
It was composed of six stories ; a temple on the top 
formed the seventh. It was ascended by 365 steps, 
sixty of these of gold, the rest of silver. It had been 
abandoned in its early history, and finished by subse- 
quent rulers. 

The fact of the unity of human language is now 
established. Language is one of the barriers between 
man and the brute. It was man's faculty from the 
first. It was a part of his original being. We do 
not know what was the original tongue. It is prob- 
ably lost in the general changes which have occurred. 
The fact of a common origin shows a common lan- 
guage. This with the fact of a common centre from 



The Origin of the Nations 115 

which man has dispersed attests the account here 
given. 

The Tower of Babel was a religious edifice, as the 
account and use attest and the scripture hints. It 
was the beginning of another apostasy, the origin of 
heathenism, which has cursed the world ever since. 
This is the origin of the traditions among many 
peoples of the war of the giants against the gods. 
The Tower of Babel was the antithesis of Noah's altar, 
the approach to God after His approved way. 

God wants penitent lives and man builds towers. 
There was at the bottom of their hearts unbelief in the 
promise of God as to the exemption of mankind from 
another flood, as well as a heaven-defying pride in the 
tower. 

After the dispersion the building of the tower was 
continued by Nimrod, who bears the characteristics 
of "a mighty hunter before the Lord." Probably 
a hunter of men, that is a conqueror and dictator. 
Heathen mythology has his fame enshrined in fable. 
In a later time the name of the tower is given to Babylon, 
which had the same characteristic of world-ruling, 
heaven-defying pride. It also was antagonistic to God 
and His people, and in the prophetic future the name 
is applied to the anti-Christianity of the last times. 
Babylon of the Apocalypse is the spiritual successor 
of these early godless displays. 

The spiritual lessons are the seed of the Serpent in 
antagonism to God and His people ; the want of faith 
in God that the world shows, especially in His good- 



n6 The Bible As It Is 

ness ; the rejection of the altar for the tower ; and the 
substitution of false religions for the true. The con- 
centration of religion in one great body is man's idea 
of religion. It has led to the greatest evils in the past. 
It cannot be until He comes whose right it is to reign 
over church and world. 

3. The Table of the Nations. 

This comes before the account of the dispersion, 
but it describes the state of the world after that event, 
and therefore we will consider it here. It is a mistake 
to pass it by. It lies at the basis of all history and 
ethnology. It is remarkable for what it gives and for 
what it omits. Its brevity is as remarkable as its 
comprehensiveness. It has stood the test of investi- 
gation, and calls for the careful study of the Bible 
lover. The great purpose of the chapter, as with all we 
have so far studied, is, first, to show the descent of the 
chosen people. The table begins with the descendants 
of Japheth, with whom Israel had least to do, and then 
gives the descendants of Ham, with whom they had 
much to do, and then the descendants of Shem, of 
whom they were part. The first two are given only 
to the third generation, the last down to Eber the 
great ancestor from whom the Hebrews get their 
name, and his son Peleg in whose days the dispersion 
occurred. 

The dispersion shows the Japhetic race in Europe, 
the Shemitic in Asia, and the Hametic in Africa, or 
drifting that way. These, however are general 



The Origin of the Nations 117 

divisions, for there are exceptions to each. The prin- 
cipal nations are as follows : 

1 . Japheth :- — Gomer is represented by the Germanic 
races ; Magog, Tubal, and Meshech, by the Russian 
races; Madai, by the Medes; Javan, by the Greeks 
and Italians ; Togarmah, by the Armenians ; Tarshish, 
by the western European nations. 

2. Ham: — Mizraim is Egypt; Canaan, the Ca- 
naanite nations; Accad, the early Assyrians. The 
Philistines and other Canaanite nations are well recog- 
nized. The nations of Africa are also included in 
the names of Ham's descendants. 

3. Shem : — The later Assyrians and the Hebrews 
are the best known representatives of his descendants. 
The older Arabian peoples are given also. 

The general plan of the settlement of the world is 
given in these words, " When the Most High gave to 
the nations their inheritance, when He separated the 
children of men, He set the bounds of the peoples 
according to the numbers of the children of Israel" 
(Deut. 32 : 8). This refers to the dispersion at 
Babel. The divine plan tells us that the various races 
were located with reference to their relation to the 
nation of Israel. Israel was placed at the centre of 
the earth. This will be seen by taking a globe or map 
showing the whole world, having the American con- 
tinents on the left, and measuring from Canaan to the 
extremes of the lands of the world. The distance is 
about the same to the extremes of Alaska and Siberia, 
to the southern extreme of America and to Australia. 



n8 The Bible As It Is 

It is the most central point on the earth. It is also the 
most accessible point from all lands. The great seas 
which lead up towards that land give channels of water 
communication with the whole earth. The continents 
all radiate from the land of man's origin, from the region 
of man's after dispersion at the flood, and from the 
centre of man's religious life, the land of Canaan. 

All this tells of purpose as plainly as any fact can. 
The regeneration of man spiritually, by means of 
Israel, was the divine purpose, and this will be seen 
more fully as the history proceeds. Israel was to be 
a house of prayer for all nations, and must therefore 
be accessible to the nations. Therefore they were 
arranged around Israel from their beginning. 

Another great truth we see in all this, the hand of 
God in history. We are not shut up by the Bible to 
the one nation of Israel, although that is its great sub- 
ject. God is the God of the whole earth. He had 
world purposes in mind from the beginning. Even in 
His election or selection of Israel, it was not them 
alone, but the world that God was preparing to save. 
Here we see in the very ground plan of humanity that 
God so loved the world that He prepared for them a 
great salvation from the first. 

Another great fact we must see from all this. We 
must read history from the divine centre or stand- 
point ; that is the spiritual view. It is this that shaped 
all the rest in the divine purpose. If the spiritual 
rules, or should rule the lower natures, it should also 
be in the divine purpose, and it is and was. We must 



The Origin of the Nations 119 

therefore, in conclusion, read history from the stand- 
point of the spiritual, as given in the Bible, that is 
from the land of Canaan and its people. God's pur- 
pose for the world centres in them. Let the nations 
stand in devout scholarship and learn the divine 
lesson, and wisdom will be not only more spiritual but 
more certain. 



TABLE OF ABRAHAM'S ANCESTRY 



f ooo ^ 0AH 600, YRS " 0l0 at Fl00 ° 


ED 438 YRS 


2349 
B.C. 

2300... 


Shem 100 yrs Olo at Flood 




Arphaxad Born 2345 Liv 


... 




Salah 23! I. 433 




— 


"EBER.228l.464r 


39f 


2275. . . 
2250. .' . 
2225... 




"PELEG. 2247. 2 







- 


-- 




REU. 22I7. 239 


._._ „_ — __-. — • — mm 


2200 




" " 5ERU6 2I8 




2175 


5. 230. 


2150 
















NAH0R.2I55. I48. 


2125 




TERAH.2I26. 205. 


2100 






2075. 

2050... 

2025 














zooa 









^OAH 






Nahor 




2000 ! 


Died tyyz. 






Died 2007. 


1975 _ 




1 


ISiiL 


Died I978 


"Abraham Born~I996. 
_i; _ u . . 

»9S5 


1950 





;;± 




SERUGDlEO 


1925 






hTERAH DIED I92I ' 


1900... 


Arphaxad died iyub. 




. || ISAAC BORN I896. 


... 


1-1 rr 


1875 


JSALAJ- 178.' 


I 


1850 


Shem Died 


I845. 


I 


lft?S 








" "|l" ""r JACOB BORN I837T 




Eber Died I8I 


7. 


-Abraham Died ltolr"-~" 


lOW 














j.L. .... 



120 






CHAPTER VII 
ABRAHAM 

Genesis 11-25. 

The whole narrative in Genesis has been centering 
towards one point, which we now have reached, the com- 
ing of the progenitor of the chosen people. The eleven 
chapters we have studied cover 2,300 years on the 
shortest chronology. The remaining thirty-nine chap- 
ters of Genesis are occupied with about 300 years of 
narrative. This shows the relation of the events and 
that all up to this is introductory. 

The reality of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as verita- 
ble persons is as well attested by outside evidence as 
any event of that time can be. The whole nation of 
the Jews attest it. That long history of the Jews, 
their purity of descent, their scriptures, preserved with 
such care, are among the many facts that verify the 
scriptural account. Abraham is as well known among 
eastern people as Washington is among us. His 
tomb is there as described by Josephus 1,900 years 
ago, also Jacob's well, known for centuries, and the 
seven wells of Beersheba lately discovered by Prof. 
George L. Robinson, of Chicago. The battle Abraham 
fought with the four kings (Gen. 14) is attested by 
the discovery of the names of these kings on Assyrian 

121 



122 The Bible As It Is 

monuments, and the account of a battle fought by these 
kings under similar circumstances. All the points of 
historic nature are true to the times and lands of the 
patriarchs. 

The study of Abraham may be followed in four 
parts, i. His Descent. 2. His History. 3. His 
Covenant. 4. His Character. 

1. Abraham's Descent. 

The history of Abraham opens, as most Bible biogra- 
phies do, with his genealogy. There are ten genera- 
tions from Shem. The accompanying Table shows 
some very valuable and interesting facts. 

From examination of the Table we see the rapid de- 
cline in the longevity of the patriarchs after the flood, 
from 950 years of Noah's life to 175 for Abraham, 
gradually reduced in the intervening patriarchs. Again 
we notice the many generations contemporary with each 
other. Ten are living at the same time. Noah lives 
to see nine generations. He lives to within a year of 
Abraham's birth. Shem lives until after the birth of 
Isaac. Eber, from whom the whole race take the name 
of Hebrew, lives until after the birth of Jacob, the 
father of the twelve tribes. Abraham could have 
conferred with Shem and learned all the facts of the 
flood from him. By comparison with the table of the 
Antediluvian Patriarchs, it will be seen that Shem 
could have conferred with several cotemporaries of 
Adam. So that Abraham was only distant by two 
generations from Adam. What Adam told Methu- 



! 



Abraham 123 

selah he, in turn, could have communicated to Shem, 
and he again to Abraham. We can see here how the 
narratives of the Bible were transmitted, first orally 
and then committed to writing. 

We see in Abraham the result of a process of se- 
lection. He is taken from the line of Shem, the godly ; 
and Shem, from Noah, the one righteous man ; and he, 
from the line of Seth, in which comes Enoch. The 
same process continues in his descendants. Isaac is 
taken as against Ishmael ; and Jacob, instead of Esau. 

Abraham shows characteristics remarkable in that age. 
The world was falling into apostasy from the primeval 
religion when Abraham was called. The worship of 
the heavenly bodies had taken the place of the worship 
of God and now Sargon, the king, was introducing a 
multitude of idols. At Ur, where Abraham lived, a 
splendid temple to the moon was erected. Tradition 
tells many incidents of Abraham's godly character. 
Most of them are unreliable, but the tenor of them all 
is to the effect that he stood alone in adherence to God. 
One historian tells that he conceived the idea of turn- 
ing the whole world to his way of thinking about God. 
His prompt obedience to the call of God and faithful 
adherence to Him through all his life tell of prior firm 
and true character and fixed belief. 

2. Abraham's History. 
The call of God came to Abraham in Ur of the 
Chaldees (Acts 7:1). With his father and family, he 
was following a pastoral life. The death of Abraham's 



124 The Bible As Jt Is 

brother, Haran, loosened the ties that bound them to 
Ur, as a death often does. They had an encampment 
similar to that of an Arabian tribe to-day. This life 
Abraham followed all his days, and his sons after him. 
His life and character were much like that of Job. 

His call gave no hint as to the direction in which he 
was to go (Heb. n : 8), although he was guided from 
time to time. He journeyed up the Euphrates along 
the fertile lands which could furnish food for the flocks 
and herds. They halted at Haran, where a stop was 
made, until by the death of the aged father, Terah, 
another tie was broken; and Abraham, having no 
further bonds to hold him, went on as guided to the 
land of promise, which, no doubt, had been then 
pointed out to him. 

Abraham's life is full and carefully given. The 
chapters will assist in getting it fixed in mind. They 
are as follows : 

Ch. ii. Abraham's genealogy. 

Ch. 12. Call. Haran. Shechem. Bethel. 
Egypt. Age 75. 

Ch. 13. Lot. Promise. 

Ch. 14. Battle. Melchisedek. 

Ch. 15. Covenant. 

Ch. 16. Hagar. Ishmael. Age 86. 

Ch. 17. Circumcision. Promise. Age 99. 

Ch. 18. Angels. Sodom. 

Ch. 19. Lot and Sodom. 

Ch. 20. Abimelech and Sarah. 

Ch. 21. Isaac. Hagar. The Wells. Age 100. 



Abraham 125 

Ch. 22. Isaac offered. 

Ch. 23. Sarah's death. 

Ch. 24. Rebecca. Age 140. 

Gh. 25. Keturah. Abraham's death. Age 175. 

3. Abraham's Covenant. 
The covenant God made with Abraham is the 
great feature of his life. It is this which made him 
great. It is this to which the subsequent scripture refers. 
It should be, therefore, the subject of special study. 
It was given in seven sections or communications. 

1. In Ur (Acts 7 : 1), he is given a command with 
the promise only of a land that God would show him. 
This step involved giving up his home and friends 
and taking the pilgrim life. The great provisions of 
the covenant are not revealed to him until he has 
shown this unquestioning obedience. He obeys the 
command. 

2. Haran (ch. 12: 1-3). Here the second com- 
mand and section of the promise are given. God com- 
passionately waits until Terah has been laid to rest. 
It is not Terah, but his great son who is the Covenant 
Father. He is promised now a land, a blessing, a 
great name, to be a blessing, others to be blessed or 
cursed for his sake, and all the families of the earth to 
be blessed in him. The leaving Haran was another 
step of separation from his brothers and his family, 
and from the land of his nativity ; it was taking another 
land and beginning life among another people. 

3. Shechem (ch. 12 : 7). Here the land is pointed 



126 The Bible As It Is 

out, " Unto thy seed will I give this land." Here he 
builds an altar and the altar accompanies him from 
this on. 

4. Bethel (ch. 13). Here another tie is broken. 
Lot separates from Abraham. His choice of Sodom 
marks him as unfit for a share in the covenant. God 
now tells Abraham that "his seed is to be as the 
dust of the earth." 

5. Hebron (ch. 15). Here the covenant is form- 
ally made and ratified. Abraham's seed are now 
promised to be as the stars for multitude. The visible 
stars are only a few thousand. Here, then, is a simile, 
coming after the number of the dust of the earth and 
so superior to it. There is plain reference to the in- 
numerable number of invisible stars only recently known 
in such vast numbers. It is this promise which Abra- 
ham believes, and it is this faith which is counted to him 
for righteousness, but not until it is tested, as James 
tells us (Jas. 2 : 21-23). The sacrifice offered was a 
blood covenant, made in that day and still made by 
the people of that country, as when General Grant 
visited the East. It was made by the parties passing 
between the parts of the sacrifice laid side by side. 
Jehovah, in the symbol of fire, and Abraham doubt- 
less so passed between the parts of the sacrifice. The 
boundaries of the land are also given from Egypt to 
the Euphrates. The Egyptian bondage is also foretold. 

6. Hebron (chs. 17, 18). Here he is given a 
change of name. Abram is now Abraham, "Great 
Father of a multitude." It is to be an "Everlasting 



Abraham 127 

Covenant, M and Canaan to be an " everlasting posses- 
sion.'* Circumcision is given as the seal of the cove- 
nant. Ishmael, whom Abraham thought might be the 
source of the coming nation, is set aside and Isaac 
promised. Twelve princes are to come from him. 

The same year, a few months after this, three angels 
visit Abraham, one of whom is Jehovah, and again 
Isaac is promised. Abraham is again told that he is 
to be a blessing to all the nations of the earth. Here, 
in these repeated promises of being a world-wide 
blessing, we see a confirmation of the tradition of his 
desire to bring the world to God. His desire will yet 
be fulfilled. 

7. Mount Moriah (ch. 22). Isaac is called for as 
a sacrifice and is offered. Then the wealth of the 
covenant is given Abraham. God adds His oath, 
"By myself I have sworn. M Abraham's seed are to 
be as the stars of heaven and as the sand of the sea. 
They are to possess the gate of their enemies and all 
the nations of the world are to be blessed by Abraham's 
seed. 

Now, examining this covenant, we see some particu- 
lars to be noticed. First, what Abraham obtained 
himself. He was to have a great name. His name is 
great to-day all through the world. In the place 
where he lived he is revered. He is there still called 
"The Friend of God." His tomb is the most sacred 
trust of the Arabs. He was promised a land and 
people. So it has come to pass. That land is Israel's. 



128 The Bible As It Is 

It is now desolate, but no other people have a right to 
it. It was given by the Lord of heaven and earth to 
Abraham and his seed forever, and theirs it is. He 
was promised a great people, as the dust of the earth, 
as the sand of the sea, as the stars of heaven. Mil- 
lions have come from him, but the great fulfilment 
awaits in the future. The spiritual seed of Abraham 
will far outnumber all others (Rom. 4: 11). 

In the battle of the confederated kings under 
Chederlaomar, King of Elam, Abraham meets the 
first king of united Babylonia. These names, that 
they possessed power in Canaan, that their vassals 
there rebelled and that they invaded Canaan, are all 
told on the Assyrian tablets, although this particular 
battle is not mentioned. This battle is typical. The 
Church meets the world in conflict. The enemy has 
never forgotten nor forgiven the Church that defeat, 
and afterwards the Church was oppressed by that same 
Babylon. 

In Melchisedek, Abraham recognizes a priest of the 
Most High God. He pays tithes to him. Melchise- 
dek was acting under the covenant made with Noah, 
which was for mankind at large and prevailed even 
for Abraham until his own covenant came into force. 
Melchisedek represents that old. world's religion which 
prevailed until the covenant of Abraham came in. 

It is in the relations of Abraham to the Church that 
we see the greatness of that covenant. Paul makes it 
the basis of the Church. To Abraham was the gospel 
preached (Gal. 3:8). He was the first to believe the 



Abraham 129 

gospel so preached (Rom. 4: 11). His faith is the 
standard faith. His conversion is three times quoted 
in scripture (Rom. 4:3; Gal. 3:6; Jas. 2 : 23). 
As he was justified so are we. He is the father of all 
that believe (Rom. 4: "5 Gal - 3 : 7)- A11 that 
believe are blessed with Abraham (Gal. 3:9). His 
covenant is the basis of God's grace to the Gentiles 
(Gal. 3 : 14). The law was an interregnum which was 
temporary in its work and sway. This has been swept 
away and on the Abrahamic foundation Paul builds 
the gospel of grace. Christ was typified in Isaac. 
He was that Seed (Gal. 3: 16). It is through the 
Church that Abraham is to become the father of 
many nations (Rom. 4: 16, 17). 

However far the stream of grace shall flow, it can 
never leave the channel of the Abrahamic cove- 
nant. We are to believe in the continuity of God's 
plan. The names of Abraham's seed are to be on the 
twelve gates of the New Jerusalem, and the promise 
that his seed shall be as the stars of heaven points to 
the glory of the resurrection saints as well as to other 
worlds than ours. The universe is to be a partaker of 
the blessing of Abraham's covenant. 

4. Abraham's Place and Character. 
His greatness is not in what he is or has himself 
alone. He had faults. His prevarication twice about 
Sarah, his marriage to Hagar and after to Keturah did 
not add to his happiness or fame. The sons of these 
wives turned out to be the enemies of Isaac's de- 



^130 jThe Bible As It Is 



INL scendants. Sarah, too, was far from perfect. She 
^ was to blame in the matter of Pharoah and Abimelech. " 
^v The latter used gentle irony in sending her a thousand 



,v:t 




»/3 



t^ pieces of silver to buy a veil with ( 20 : 16). Abraham ^^ sfyJU* 
was absent from her when she died and had ap-*«o^v^/* lj C 
parently been absent some time (22 : 19 ; 23 : 2). ^ <2t*>~£{ 

It was the covenant that made Abraham great. By it xwtfp} 
Jie was to become a blessing to all the earth. Here is<j<auv*-^L 
an answer to that charge of favoritism sometimes made o*44Gs. 
against the choice of Israel for such favors from Jehovah^^^ 
and her place in the Bible. It is the great plan of ^Jg. w 1 * 
God for the welfare of mankind. That it has thus 
resulted, we have seen. That it will be even more 
of such a blessing, time will show. The Old Testamenti~# 
is therefore not narrow, but is a world book full of 
world plans for man's welfare. 

Abraham is the Church in embryo. He is chosen, 
called and saved. He is made the depository of the 
covenant, and the faith of the Church is his. He 
travels the pilgrim path as the Church does still. He 
lives in a land which is to be his in the future, as the 
Church has her inheritance in the same future. 

In Sarah, too, there is an allegory (Gal. 4: 22-31). 
Sarah is the covenant of grace, Hagar that of bondage y, 1 
gendering only to bondage. Isaac can come only J**ma£a. (m 
from Sarah, so hope for the future can come only ^^eco /!i 
from the New Covenant. There is in the history of >t^ j 

Isaac a trivial incident which is made the starting-point^^*/^' 
of a great period. At Isaac's weaning feast, Ishmael ^- A - ^^jj 
mocks, probably at his promised future. Ishmael and 9llif£^. j 



Abraham I 3 1 

his mother are cast out. It is the beginning of the 
trouble of the chosen seed. In that small event the 
spirit of antagonism and unbelief is as truly seen as in 
the great wars which followed between the people of 
Isaac and their own connections. Personally it does not 
amount to a permanent breach, for Ishmael and Isaac 
are together at the burial of Abraham. But Ishmael' s 
nature is thus clearly seen in boyhood. Modern 
psychology tells us that the character is fixed as early 
as seven years of age. 

This great blessing and place came to Abraham 
because of his faith attested by his obedience. His 
faith was that what God had promised he was able to 
perform. He believed what God promised, accepted 
all as his own and acted accordingly. He therefore 
obeyed God's commands as they came to him. He 
was not a perfect character. He had faults many, 
but he had faith in God and this justified him with 
God. All our blessings must come in like manner. 
We are asked to believe in Jesus Christ. If we do, we 
will act accordingly. If we do not act accordingly, we 
are not counted as believing (Jas. 2 : 18-26). The 
fulness of the Holy Spirit is promised to the faith 
which, like Abraham's, takes hold of God's promises 
(Gal. 3: 14). 

There are degrees in the apprehension of truth and 
consequently of blessing. There are stages of bless- 
ing. If Abraham had stopped at certain points, he 
would have had some of the blessing, but not the fulness 
of it. It was his perseverance which won the cove- 



')'■■ 




&****->* 



132 The Bible As It Is 

nant. By faith they " obtained promises M is recorded 
of such (Heb. n: 33). Abraham had not only a 
general idea of God and His power and goodness, but 
he apprehended the gospel. He gave Isaac to be of- 
fered expecting God would raise him from the dead, 
from which in a figure he was raised (Heb. n : 19). 
Isaac is a type of Christ in the submissive giving of 
himself up to the Father. 

Abraham apprehended Christ. He tells us, " Your 
father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, he saw it and 
was glad M (John 8:56). He foresaw the coming of 
the Mediator, the one that Job longed for, that one prom- 
ised in Eden, but scarcely understood until Abraham 
came and realized the Coming One. Abraham had 
also a knowledge of heaven. " He looked for the 
city that hath the foundations " (Heb. n : 10). His 
vision penetrated eternity. 

We are to follow the history of the people who de- 
scended from Abraham and we will see that all that 
came to them of blessing came because of this great 
covenant. It was constantly appealed to both by 
Jehovah, when He called them to repentance, and by 
the people, when they called for deliverance. Its 
workings in grace will be seen as soon as we enter the 
history of the children of Abraham. 

Lot is associated with Abraham and is to be con- 
sidered in connection with his history. He is Abra- 
ham's nephew and charge. He, however, becomes 
independent in property and following. He separates 
from Abraham before the covenant is sealed, and so 



Abraham 133 

separates himself from its blessings. He pitches to- 
wards Sodom, and at last enters and resides there, 
and is a judge sitting in its gate and marries probably, 
a woman of Sodom. He does all for gain and loses all 
thereby. He escapes with his life and daughters, who, 
doubtless contaminated by Sodom's disgraceful life, 
bring disgrace upon themselves. Lot's descendants 
are Israel's enemies to the end. Lot is an illustration 
of the fact that nearness to means of grace does not 
necessarily bring grace to the heart or life. Ishmael 
and Esau are also such instances. 

Ishmael is not forgotten, though not included in the 
special blessings of the covenant. That father's prayer, 
"Oh, that Ishmael might live before thee, ' ' was heard. 
It has been answered. The knowledge of God has never 
died out of Ishmael' s people. 



CHAPTER VIII 

JACOB 

Genesis 24-36. 

We pass from Abraham to Jacob because Isaac has 
a small space in the narrative. He has only one 
chapter exclusively devoted to him. He has but a 
single event mentioned in the New Testament, his 
blessing his sons. He is the submissive and passive 
character of the Bible. He is mocked by Ishmael when 
a child, is offered unresistingly as a sacrifice ; his wife 
is chosen for him ; he gives up the wells one after an- 
other unresistingly, and settles only when let alone ; he 
is deceived by his son. He is a type of Christ in his 
humiliation and in his sacrifice. But, as the time for 
the full revelation of Christ's humiliation has not yet 
come, Isaac is passed in scripture with minor mention. 

Events of Isaac's Life. Promised, 17 : 21. Birth, 
21:2. Offered, 22. Marriage, 24. Heirship, 
25:6-11. Sons' Birth, 25: 21-26. The Wells, 

26 : 1-32. Deceived by Jacob, Blesses Sons, 27. 

t 
1. Jacob's Place. 

Jacob occupies a large place in scripture. His name 
as Israel occurs more often than any other save that of 
God. It is this name by which the chosen race are 

i34 



Jacob 135 

called. Seven great revelations are given him and 
such visions as Abraham never had. Angels appear 
to him again and again. He sees heaven open and 
the ladder dropped at his feet, and angels descend 
upon him as on Christ afterwards (Gen 28 : 12; 
John 1 : 31). An angel allows him to wrestle with 
him and wrest a blessing from him. 

We are compelled to ask who and what manner of 
man this was to whom such favors are shown and 
whose name is so immortal. We are met at the out- 
set by surprise and disappointment. Scarcely a good 
or noble trait appears in him, and the charge rests 
against him of taking advantage of his brother, of de- 
ceiving his aged father, of advantage taken of his 
employer and relative. 

It is not on his own account that he is blessed, and 
when we ask for other reason we are made to see that 
it is because he is an inheritor under the great cove- 
nant. Jacob is the one great Bible illustration of free, 
undeserved sovereign grace. Without a single re- 
deeming quality, he obtains all the wealth of that great 
covenant won by such heroic efforts and faith, sealed 
by Isaac's self-immolation, and now poured out on this 
miserable character as if he deserved it all ! He 
therefore represents all who are saved by grace. His 
nam£ therefore is properly given the people of God. 
Spiritually we are all the children of Israel. 

He is so favored, in the purpose of God, before his 
birth, so that there may not be the slightest ground 
for attributing to him some real or imagined good- 



136 The Bible As It Is 

ness for which he is chosen or favored. He is one of 
twins. Of these one is chosen and that is Jacob. 
"For the children, being not yet born, neither hav- 
ing done anything good or bad, that the purpose of 
God according to election might stand, not of works, 
but of him that calleth, it was said unto her, [his 
mother], The elder shall serve the younger. Even as 
it is written, Jacob have I called loved, Esau have I 
hated " (Rom. 9 : n-13). H e * s made therefore the 
representative of all the subjects of grace, that is of us 
all, for we also are saved by grace and not by works. 
He is a type of the Church, as Israel was of Christ. 
If Abraham, in offering Isaac, is a type of the Father 
offering His Son, Isaac undoubtedly being a type of 
Christ in His sacrifice, then we have here the unity 
of Father, Son and Church by the Spirit which Christ so 
loved to dwell upon. " That they may be one even as 
we are. . . . That they may all be one, even as 
thou Father art in me and I in thee, that they also 
may be in us. . . . That they may be one 
even as we are one ; I in them and thou in me, that 
they may be perfected into one' ' (John 17 : 11, 21, 23). 
The history of Jacob will also show the human side 
of the Church in its evils and errors and consequent 
chastisements, which follow Jacob's story. His his- 
tory is not one of victory in himself. 

2. Jacob's History. 
With this view of Jacob we will follow his life. 
It may be best learned, as was Abraham's, by the 



Jacob 137 

chapters, to keep the continuity and order of events, 
as well as to keep the whole patriarchal narrative in 
due order. Taking key words we find the following 
chapter headings : 

Ch. 24. His Mother. 

Ch. 25. Birth. Birthright. 

Ch. 26. Isaac. 

Ch. 27. Blessing. 

Ch. 28. Flight. Vision. Bethel. 

Ch. 29. Laban. Rachel. Leah. Sons. 

Ch. 30. Sons. Cattle. 

Ch. 31. Flight. Laban. 

Ch. 32. Mahanaim. Peniel. 

Ch. 33. Esau. Shechem. 

Ch. 34. Simeon and Levi. 

Ch. 35. Bethel. Benjamin. 

Ch. 36. Esau's People. 

Ch. 37. Joseph's Loss. 

Ch. 38. Judah's Sin. 

Chs. 39-47. Famine and Egypt. 

Chs. 48, 49. Blesses Sons. Death. 

Seven distinct revelations are given him. At leav- 
ing home (28 : 10-20). Leaving Laban (31 : 3). Two 
before meeting Esau (32: 2, 24-32). At Shechem 
(35 : 1). Bethel (35 : 9). On going to Egypt (46 : 2). 
The focal points of this narrative are his obtaining of the 
birthright and blessing ; his prayer at Bethel ; his prayer 
at Peniel ; his return to Bethel ; his dying blessing. 
The latter the Epistle to the Hebrews dwells on as 
alone worthy of mention (Heb. 11 : 21). 



138 



The Bible As It Is 



3. Jacob's Character. 

In his personal character some features call for 
special mention. With all his evil conduct he is a 
spiritual man. The same strange union of the flesh 
and the spirit is seen in all Christians. He is con- 
trasted with Esau, a purely natural man who has had no 
conflict, but has some natural good qualities. Jacob 
shows his spiritual nature in seeking the birthright 
and in his prayer. His vow at Bethel and his return 
to it speak of the presence of the spiritual nature ; and, 
above all, this nature is shown in his prayer at Peniel 
and his struggle with the angel. God Himself recog- 
nizes the latter as an evidence of spiritual power and 
rewards him for it. 

But with the spiritual nature, Jacob has human na- 
ture, and that of a most unlovely quality. He is self- 
ish and crafty and deceitful and carnal. It is the 
flesh and the spirit in the same individual. Two 
natures of antagonistic characters in one person. The 
flesh lusting against the spirit and the spirit against 
the flesh. It is seen in every believer ; and not until 
the flesh is crucified and Christ given full control is 
there victory (Gal. 5 : 17-25). 

Jacob suffers in his family and in his life. He 
realized the after statement, " He that soweth to the 
flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption." In his life 
is sorrow for the wrong-doings of his children. They 
treat their brother and him as he treated his father 
and his brother. He is deceived by his wife, and 
idols are in his home. He ends his life in a strange 



Jacob 139 

land, and he has to say, "all these things are against 
me ; few and evil have been the days and the years 
of my life." It might have been different; for all 
would have come to him without his scheming and 
deception and trickery. God needs no such help to 
bring about His purposes. God chastens those He 
loves and He says, "Jacob have I loved. " God is 
faithful to His own in chastisement as well as in favor 
and blessing. 

4. Jacob's Twelve Sons. 

The twelve sons of Jacob should be noticed, as in 
them are found the germs of future nations; and from 
their character, their conduct, their maternal ancestry 
and the dying blessing of their father, Jacob, the nation 
takes its character and its whole history is shaped. 
The twelve sons are as follows : 

Leah's sons, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, 
Zebulun. 

The sons of Bilhah, Rachel's maid, Dan, Naphtali. 

Sons of Zilpah, Leah's maid, Gad, Asher. 

Rachel's sons, Joseph, Benjamin. 

The first-born, Reuben, lost his place as the favored 
one by primogeniture, by wrong-doing. Judah ob- 
tains the leadership by his favor to Joseph. He is 
the leading tribe from whom the rulers came and the 
Messiah. That this place is not from his own char- 
acter is seen from his own unworthy conduct in chap- 
ter 38. The jealousy between the wives of Jacob is 
the source of the after-divisions between the sons and 



i 4 o The Bible As It Is 

the tribes, the split of the kingdom into two parts, 
the wars between them, the final separation for all 
these centuries and the loss of the ten tribes. All this 
can be traced to the two wives and their jealousy re- 
lated here. Polygamy brought Jacob misery as it 
does everywhere. Judah was the leading tribe of Leah's 
sons, and Ephraim, Joseph's son, the leading tribe 
of Rachel's sons, and these two were antagonists 
always (Isa. n : 13). The inferior tribes are from the 
handmaids and these rally about the respective wives 
and their sons. The idolatry of Israel began with 
Ephraim, and it was in Rachel's keeping that the idols 
were which were stolen from Laban (Gen. 31 : 34). 
We see here the far-reaehing effects of family life. 



CHAPTER IX 

JOSEPH 

Genesis 36-50. 

Joseph, the eleventh son of Jacob, occupies the place 
of interest after his father and it is about him that the 
narrative centres. It is under his care that they are 
saved from famine and brought to Egypt and there 
increase to a nation. The story of Joseph is one of 
the most dramatic in all scripture. It is true to the 
Eastern life and conditions in which it is placed. It 
could only have been written by one with the facts be- 
fore him. The coat of many colors which his father 
gave him was often used for favored children ; such 
coats have been found in tombs and indeed are some- 
times used to-day. The pit into which they put him 
was a dry cistern, such as abound in that country. 
Arabian caravans pass through the land to-day and 
would buy such a slave now. The price is that for a 
slave under twenty-five years of age. In the Egyptian 
part of the narrative are over two hundred points of 
correspondence with Egyptian conditions. The story 
of Joseph itself is reflected in an Egyptian story of 
" The Two Brothers/ ' which resembles it, and is 
doubtless an Egyptian rendering of the same occur- 

141 



142 The Bible As It Is 

rences, as so many of such old traditions are. This we 
have seen in the stories of the Fall and the Deluge. 

The life of Joseph should be studied on three 
lines : i . His personal history and character. 2. As 
representative of the nation. 3. Prophetically and 
typically. 

1. Joseph's History. 

The personal story may be best learned by the 
chapters. These will keep the order of events in 
mind. 

Ch. 30. Joseph's Birth. 

Ch. 37. Dreams. Betrayal. 

Ch. 39. In Egypt. With Potiphar. In Prison. 

Ch. 40. Pharaoh's Butler and Baker. 

Ch. 41. Pharaoh's Dreams. Joseph's Release. 
Famine. 

Ch. 42. Joseph's Brethren. 

Chs. 43, 44. Benjamin. 

Ch. 45. Joseph Revealed. 

Ch. 46. Jacob Comes. His Family. 

Ch. 47. Jacob and Pharaoh. The Famine. 

Ch. 48. Jacob Blesses Joseph's Sons. 

Ch. 49. Jacob Blesses His Sons. Dies. 

Ch. 50. Burial of Jacob. Joseph Dies. 

The discoveries of archaeology in Egypt have given 
light upon his life in that land of intense interest. 
Joseph's life was that of an Egyptian prince. It can 
scarcely be too highly colored. Egypt was far in 
advance in civilization. Joseph lived, in a palace 



Joseph 143 

adorned with paintings, surrounded with a paradise of 
palms and tropical plants. There were couches adorned 
with ebony, ivory and gilding ; vases of gold, bronze, 
ivory and crystal ; perfumes from alabaster cups ; soft 
carpets and costly furs. He was attended by hundreds 
of trained slaves, and had the luxuries of the world at 
his command. There were acrobats, dancers, musicians 
to amuse him, a great estate with its animals and poultry 
of every kind, a menagerie of wild beasts gathered and 
kept for the royal pleasure. Garlands of roses and 
wreaths of lotus blossoms were placed upon the necks 
and heads of the guests, while choirs and orchestras 
entertained them during the feast. It was to such a 
ruler, in such surroundings, that Joseph's brethren were 
introduced. The effect on the rustics from Canaan may 
be imagined, especially when that princely ruler said 
to them as they tremblingly awaited their fate, " I am 
Joseph your brother. M 

The noticeable facts as to Joseph's character 
are his goodness in youth at home, his fidelity in 
places of trust (39 : 6), resistance of temptation 
(39 : 8), wisdom in administering affairs (41 : 48), his 
love for his cruel brethren (45). His godly character 
was the source of all. "God was with him " 
(Acts 7 : 9), is the keynote to his history and 
character. 

He shows his faith as well as his hope of their re- 
lease from Egypt, which with all its luxuries is noth- 
ing to him beside the land of the covenant, and this 
gives him his great place as hero of faith more than all 



144 The Bible As It Is 

else he did (Heb. n : 22). His body is therefore 
embalmed and carried up out of Egypt, not at the 
time of his death as with Jacob, but at their release. 

2. Joseph's Place in Israel. 
Joseph is the representative of the coming nation. 
He is sent in prevenient grace to deliver them in the 
time of famine, the director of their course. Here we 
see the hand of God. It was to this that the strange 
dreams of his youth pointed. It was for this specially 
that " God was with him." It was here that his great 
character was so needed. Abraham was their father 
spiritually, Jacob physically, Joseph providentially. 
The increase of the family to twelve sons and sixty 
grandsons, with all their wives, made a settlement for 
the time necessary. It needed to be where food was 
plentiful, the necessity for increase of man or beast or 
plant, where protection for the young nation could be 
had in that unsettled time, where education also was 
to be obtained for those who were to be such a people. 
No land offered all these as did Egypt. Therefore to 
Egypt they were taken. All Joseph's eventful life was 
just part of the great divine plan to promote the 
growth of the nation, as promised Abraham. We see 
the covenant now operating in blessing. Joseph was 
the administrator for the time of that covenant. 

3. Joseph Prophetically and Typically. 
Joseph was a typical or prophetic character of 
which scripture shows a succession and which it is 



Joseph 145 

important to study if we would learn its meaning. 
The dreams in which he sees the sheaves all bowing 
down to his sheaf, and the sun, moon and planets all 
bowing to him, were prophetic of his future glory 
and mark him as a prophetic character. 

It requires but little insight to see the strange par- 
allel between Joseph's life and that of Jesus. Each 
is beloved of his father, each hated and betrayed and 
sold by his brethren, and each by this act of betrayal 
becomes their deliverer. Each goes down into 
Egypt in youth, and each rises to royal dignity and 
becomes his people's saviour. Each operated under a 
great covenant and each looked forward to a resurrec- 
tion day and another land (Heb. n : 22). Each is a 
stranger in a strange land, and that the land of bond- 
age of the soul. The woman in the Apocalypse clothed 
in the sun and crowned with the stars (Rev. 12) is 
Israel glorified, which Joseph saw in type, in his dream 
of the sun and moon and stars (Gen 37: 9) . The reve- 
lation of Joseph to his brethren is to be reen acted when 
Jesus, their now rejected Messiah, shall be revealed to 
the chosen people as their long rejected brother. Then 
will be fulfilled the prophecy of Zech. 1 2 : 10-14. They 
shall " look upon Him whom they have pierced and they 
shall mourn for Him." With Him they will then rise 
to glory. 

There is no other such complete parallel of the 
whole work of Christ for His people in scripture. No 
one can consider these correspondences without being 
impressed that they form a prophecy. Therefore 



146 The Bible As It Is 

Joseph is one of the great Messianic characters of 
scripture and is to be given study accordingly. To 
be sure, there is no direct scriptural mention of Joseph 
as such a Messianic character ; yet this is not excep- 
tional, for there are many such. Indeed all scriptural 
characters are in some measure reflections of the glory 
of the coming Saviour. Joseph can at least be used 
as illustrative of Christ. 






CHAPTER X 
THE EXODUS 
Exodus 1-15. 

Here begins the history of Israel as a nation. Up 
to this it is a family we have studied. The Exodus 
made them a nation. This therefore is the great 
event of their history. Scripture is full of it. The 
books of the Pentateuch after Genesis are occupied 
with the events of this time. Two great parts appear 
in these books. 1. History. 2. Legislation. The 
historical part tells their story from Egypt to Canaan ; 
the legislative part, the laws given them at this time. 
These should be studied separately, the historical first. 

The historical part must be gathered out of the 
four books, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deute- 
ronomy, but principally from Exodus and Numbers. 
It should be read first consecutively, omitting the 
legislative parts, so as to secure the whole narrative 
in unbroken order. 

The order of study to be followed is as follows : 
1. Their state in Egypt, chapter 1. 2. Moses, chap- 
ters 2-4. 3. Pharaoh and the Plagues, chapters 5-1 i. 
4. Passover, chapters 12, 13. 5. Exodus, chapter 
1 2-1 5 . 6. The wilderness journey, Exodus 1 6 to end / 
Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. 

147 



148 The Bible As It Is 

i. Their State in Egypt. 
The exodus and accompanying facts form a well- 
attested narrative. That Israel was in Egypt, that 
they left it and went to Canaan is accepted by all. 
The Egyptian part is true to the time and place. It 
could only have been written by one familiar with the 
facts and on the ground. The facts of history also 
are in agreement with the Bible record. When Joseph 
and his brethren went to Egypt, it was ruled by a 
friendly dynasty, the Hyksos kings, of the same gen- 
eral race as Israel and called the Shepherd Kings in 
reproach by the Egyptians, whom they strangely and 
completely and easily conquered some time before. 
This accounts in part for the friendly reception of 
Joseph and his brethren. The oppression of Israel 
was caused by the expulsion of this friendly dynasty 
and the return of the native dynasty to power. Of 
these was the king "who knew not Joseph. " The 
special oppression in the making of brick was under 
that greatest of all builders of Egypt, Rameses II, 
who built more than all others together. There are 
found on the monuments of Egypt the pictures of the 
semitic-faced laborers such as Israel was, with all the 
details of their oppression. The buildings show the 
facts also. The ruins of the "treasure cities" show 
the facts of the account. In the ruins of the granaries 
at Pithom, the lowest layers of brick work are laid with 
brick made with straw, the next with brick made with 
" stubble " or reeds, the upper with bricks made without 
either. This exactly agrees with the scripture account. 






The Exodus 149 

A long period of silence follows the death of 
Joseph. They increased into a nation by the quiet, 
safe and well-fed life in Egypt. They were also learn- 
ing of Egypt's civilization, the effects of which they 
showed in after life. They were, at leaving, far from 
the rustic people they were at coming. That splendid 
civilization certainly was an education. The Egyp- 
tians could calculate eclipses, knew geometry, chem- 
istry, anatomy, architecture, mining, all kinds of ag- 
riculture, horticulture and care of cattle, used the 
most exquisite articles of household furniture, carpets 
and couches. They used glass surpassing the best Vene- 
tian forms, and pictures made of feather work, requir- 
ing the most powerful microscope to discern the parts. 
They used chisels, drills, planes and cutting tools of 
every kind. It would have been impossible for any 
nation of any ability to have been in daily contact 
with all this and not be taught some of it. It was for 
this, for one reason, that the chosen people were sent 
to Egypt, the mother of learning. 

Socially the Israelites were a separate people although 
they spread through the land. Their language, race, 
and especially their affinity with the hated Hyksos kings, 
would keep them separate. Many of them retained 
their pastoral life and roamed over the eastern wilder- 
ness. Some even raided into Canaan (1 Chron. 7 : 
21-24), perhaps trying to force the promised return. 
Politically they were an alien as well as an inferior 
race. They retained their tribal and community life. 
They had their elders and other rulers at the close of 



150 The Bible As It Is 

their stay in Egypt as all such peoples then had and 
still have to-day. 

Religiously they had the memory of their fathers' 
religion. Some, as the parents of Moses, " feared 
God." Moses himself kept the faith. They had the 
memory of the land from whence they came and the 
hope of returning to it. But most had lost their vital 
piety. They did not, however, fall into the idolatry 
of Egypt. That was too degraded for such a people 
to adopt. The worship of cattle and cats and croco- 
diles disgusted them, and, as they believed themselves 
of a superior race, that also kept them from that base 
religion. If they practiced idolatry it was that of the 
nations from which they sprang, as Canaan or Ur 
whence Abraham came. 

We notice the lesson that God prepared the people 
for leaving Egypt by the hardships of the oppression. 
It was a delightful land and in peace they would not 
care to leave it, and would ever turn to it again in the 
trials of the wilderness. Even as it was, they looked 
back to it at times with longing. They never could 
fulfil God's purpose for them and for mankind in 
Egypt. The believer in the world is in the same posi- 
tion. " Come out from among them and be ye sep- 
arate " is God's call to His people at all times. 

2. Moses. 
When God designs to bless His people, He raises up 
an instrument and generally from among them. 
Moses was His appointed and prepared leader for 



The Exodus 151 

Israel's deliverance. He was Israel's Washington. 
His life may be divided into three parts of equal 
length, in Egypt forty years, in Midian forty years, in 
the Wilderness forty years. The first two were neces- 
sary to prepare him for his work which lay in the last 
third of his life. 

1. His birth and strange childhood are familiar sto- 
ries. We see in this the direct hand of God. Such a 
leader needed training of two kinds : first, the education 
of a secular kind needed for the great national leadership 
he was to assume; second, the spiritual education 
needed in the same sphere. The first was given him 
in Pharaoh's palace under the best of Egypt's teach- 
ers. He undoubtedly was initiated into the mysteries 
of Egyptian occultism of every kind, as well as the 
usual learning of the land. He lived the same luxurious 
life of a prince as did Joseph. Trained servants by 
hundreds waited upon him. He was entrusted with 
important military commissions, and, if tradition is 
right, fought battles with Egypt's enemies. 

He, however, did not lose his piety. That mother 
training never left him. And further he came to 
know his divine commission at this time. He had 
choice given him of a life of luxury, perhaps to rise to 
the throne, or one of peril and poverty with his 
people. He deliberately chose the latter (Heb. 1 1 : 
24-26). He seems to have incurred the suspicion at 
this early time of those in power, for when he slays an 
Egyptian he has to flee for his life. This would not 
have been necessary had he been in affinity with 



152 The Bible As It Is 

Egyptian power at court. No prince of the palace 
need have fled for killing a subject. It shows his 
friendless state at the time. There is a long, romantic 
story in the few lines of Moses' Egyptian history. 

2. His life after his flight was the opposite of the 
Egyptian. He was a shepherd. It is a solitary life, 
one excessively wearing. Shepherds have become 
insane through the constant solitude and never-end- 
ing bleating of flocks. He here learns patience, and 
the learning only had in solitude. Here God reveals 
Himself. Here he gets his commission. 

3. With Israel. To review this is to repeat Is- 
rael' s history which we are now to study. He was a spe- 
cially fitted man for a special place. The key to his 
character is given in a word. " He endured as seeing 
him who is invisible. M He reveals himself to Israel 
and is accepted as their deliverer, evidenced by the 
signs he shows when the proper time has come. 

3. Pharaoh and the Plagues, 
chapters 5-1 1. 
Pharaoh is an official title like emperor. The 
Pharaoh who ruled when Moses appeared was one of 
Rameses IPs successors, perhaps Menephtah I. The 
fact of the finding or not finding of his mummy has 
little bearing on the matter. There is no reason to 
say that this Pharaoh was drowned in the Red Sea, or 
that if he was his body was not recovered and em- 
balmed, for many bodies were left on the shore, as the 
record tells us. There are some facts which attest the 



The Exodus 153 

general narrative. A tablet has been found that gives 
what is believed to be the Egyptian account of the 
exodus, "The Israelites have been annihilated, no 
posterity is left them." * The Egyptians saw them dis- 
appear and to them they were annihilated. 

We can easily understand the resentment of Pha- 
raoh, whom the monuments say was twenty-six years 
younger than Moses,, at being demanded to let go a 
subject race by one of their number, and one, too, who 
had been a possible competitor with him for the throne. 
He first hardens his heart and then God hardens it 
further. He was raised up as a resistance piece for 
Jehovah's purpose to reveal His power (Ex. 9: 16; 
Rom. 9:17). "That my name may be declared 
throughout all the earth." The first sign should have 
satisfied him. He calls for his magicians, and is 
hardened to resistance when they perform some similar 
feats. Another sign fails also. Plague after plague 
fails to bring this hardened man to obedience. 

The plagues were ten in number. They should 
be memorized. 1. Nile turned to blood. 2. Frogs. 
3. Lice. 4. Flies. 5. Murrain on cattle. 6. Boils 
on man. 7. Hail and fire. 8. Locusts. 9. Dark- 
ness. 10. Death of first-born. 

Many of these, perhaps all, have a natural basis. 
The hand of God is seen in the severity and in the 
time and place and purpose of the plagues. The 
Nile is subject to changes to a red color from the 

^Expository Times, Nov., 1897. See also Authenticity of the 
Hexateuch, Bartlett, p. 106. 



154 The Bible As It Is 

presence of immense quantities of infusoria in it at 
times. The insect plagues are all in a measure often 
felt there. So also the murrain on cattle and boils on 
man. The plague of hail is not unknown, in some 
degree, with electrical storms. The darkness has 
been experienced, and also the pestilence which scripture 
tells smote the first-born (Ps. 78: 50, 51). Justice 
took their first-born for the robbery of Jehovah's. It 
was this death blow that broke their hearts. 

4. The Passover. 
While the oppressor is being broken, Israel is 
being prepared for deliverance. The redemption 
must be by blood as well as by power. Right as 
well as might characterize God's salvation for 
His people. Therefore the edict of death on the 
first-born is universal. Israelite as well as Egyptian 
is under that doom; hence the need of the Pass- 
over. If the Angel of Death, who knows no dis- 
cretion, is to pass over any house there must be a 
seal upon it. That seal is blood. That blood is the 
type of a future Deliverer, whose forfeit it is, pledging 
Him to come and, at a time appointed, make good 
this forfeit with His own death. The passover there- 
fore is Calvary in rehearsal of its great enactment 
(1 Cor. s : 7). Christ was that Lamb of God of whom 
not a bone was to be broken (John 19 : 36). He was 
to die at passover time. By virtue of His death His 
Church as a whole passed out to victory, and judg- 
ment fell upon the hosts of darkness. Through faith 



The Exodus 155 

in that blood the believer has the right to pass out to 
freedom, and through partaking of that flesh he has 
strength to do so. " Neither is there salvation in any 
other' ' (Acts 4: 12). 

Besides the protection of the blood, there was 
the strength of the flesh eaten. In the strength 
of that eaten passover lamb and bread they march out 
to liberty. It is Christ's flesh eaten. It is perpetuated 
in the Lord's supper. We, too, sing the song of 
Moses and the Lamb at every communion (Matt. 
26: 17-28; John 6: 53-58; Rev. 15: 2, 3). 

5. The Exodus. 
The story of the Exodus is briefly told. They were 
prepared. They had seen the plagues and courage 
filled their hearts. Their terror fell upon all who 
knew the strange occurrences of the past weeks. They 
are told to ask (not "borrow" as in Authorized 
Version) from the Egyptians jewels and money. These 
are their hard earned wages unjustly kept from them. 
They ask and are given willingly and lavishly, "jewels 
of silver and jewels of gold. ' ' They march out in order 
"by their armies." They have maintained their 
tribal order and divisions into " families," "houses" 
and households under their hereditary princes and 
elders. It is not a confused mass of flying fugitives, 
but a comparatively orderly caravan and encampment. 
There are 600,000 fighting men. This would call for 
perhaps 2,000,000 in all. In haste, yet with order, 
they march out, joined at places by the converging 



156 The Bible As It Is 

companies from various parts and by crowds of op- 
pressed peoples who, like themselves, have felt the lash 
of the oppressor. They march in order, probably in 
great divisions meeting at Rameses or Pithom on the 
edge of the wilderness. 

The crossing of the tongue of the Red Sea was 
assisted by what was a miracle upon a natural basis. 
The place and conditions made such a piling up of the 
waters possible and, with special providential winds to 
assist, the whole event is not only possible but certain. 
The Egyptians have scarcely let them go than they 
repent, especially for their treasures disappearing so 
quickly. The pride and unbelief of Pharaoh harden his 
heart to the last point and he orders a pursuit. The 
overthrow of the Egyptian hosts is confirmed by the 
fact that a sort of anarchy prevailed in Egypt after 
this. A papyrus relates that the population had 
broken away over the borders, and among those that 
remained there was no commanding voice for many 
years. The regions of that event were full of its 
traditions for ages. 

Israel celebrates her escape with songs of joy, and 
Moses writes a song which remains ever after and will 
remain, as prophecy tells us, the typical song of the final 
victory of the Church (Rev. 15 : 3). 

The use of this and reference to it in later scriptures 
gives us the key to the spiritual meaning of the 
Exodus. It is a prophetic event and of the last times, 
as so much of scripture narrative is. The Revelation 
contains much of the Egyptian story. Egypt is 



The Exodus 157 

a type there of the anti-Christian opposition of the 
last days. Pharaoh is antichrist. Israel is God's 
Church in that day. The oppression is their treat- 
ment at the hands of antichrist and his people. 
The world's judgments are portrayed in the plagues. 
The waters turned to blood, the locusts, the fire 
and hail, the sores, the darkness, the one who 
smites as Moses did, the final song of victory at the 
edge of the sea of fire all are given us here. As the 
deluge gave us such a picture, so we have another here 
in greater detail and vividness. 



CHAPTER XI 

THE WILDERNESS JOURNEY 

Ex. 1 6 to End. Lev. Num. Deut. 

We now begin the forty years' journey which forms 
the subject of the books of the Pentateuch after 
Genesis. The relations of each book to the journey 
may be seen in the map given herein. Genesis takes 
them to Egypt; Exodus, from Egypt to Mt. Sinai; 
Leviticus was all given at Mt. Sinai ; Numbers takes 
them from Mt. Sinai to Canaan ; Deuteronomy was 
all given at the edge of Canaan. 

A further comparison of these books is instructive. 

Exodus is partly historical (chs. i to 19), partly 
legislative (chs. 20 to 40). 

Leviticus is nearly all legislative. 

Numbers, like Exodus, is partly historical, partly 
legislative. It is so called from the two numberings at 
the beginning and close of the journey (chs. 2, 26). 

Deuteronomy is the farewell discourse of Moses just 
before his death. 

The whole divides into (1) history of the journey 
and (2) legislation. 

The journey from Egypt to Canaan divides into five 
stages: 1. From Egypt to Mt. Sinai. 2. At Mt. 

158 



The Wilderness Journey 



l S9 




i6o The Bible As It Is 

Sinai. 3. From Mt. Sinai to Canaan. 4. The thirty- 
eight years of wandering. 5. The fortieth year. 

1. Egypt to Mt. Sinai, 
exodus 12 to 18. 

This was a circuitous way to Canaan. It was 
evidently chosen for several reasons. It hid the 
nation in the wilderness from the Egyptian enemies 
and other antagonistic peoples. It brought them to 
the place of schooling at Mt. Sinai, where God in- 
tended to give them the law. 

The events on this stage of their journey are all 
preparatory; the experience of the bitter waters at 
Marah, the Pillar of Cloud, the giving of manna and 
the quails, the contest with Amelek, and the visit and 
advice of Jethro. The time was about three months. 
It was a series of lessons of faith in Jehovah. These 
were all preparatory events and typify the early ex- 
periences of the Christian life. 

2. At Mt. Sinai. 
ex. 19 to end. lev. and num. i to io. 

This was in the general locality where Moses 
spent the forty years, when banished from Egypt. 
Mt. Horeb it was also called. Here he had the vision 
of the burning bush (Ex. 3). Their arrival here 
was to be the evidence that God had called and sent 
him and was with him (3 : 12). 

The events at Mt. Sinai are all of a religious nature ; 



The Wilderness Journey 161 

the revelation of God to the people from the mount, 
the giving of the law, that is the decalogue, by audible 
voice in the hearing of all the people, and further laws 
to Moses in the mount, which he ascended many- 
times; the giving of the two tables of stone, the 
directions for building the Tabernacle, the idolatry of 
Israel with the golden calf, the punishment, the reve- 
lation of God's grace to Moses and the erection of the 
Tabernacle. The whole of Leviticus was given here 
from the Tabernacle. Here Aarjon was consecrated. 
Here occurred the profanation by his sons, Nadab and 
Abihu, and their death. The second Passover was 
here observed. The remainder of the first year was 
spent here. The first numbering of the nation and 
the order of the camp for the further march was also 
arranged here. 

The great events were the giving of the law and 
that part called the Book of the Covenant and the 
covenant entered into between Jehovah and the nation. 
The basis of this was the covenant with Abraham. 
Now a subsidiary covenant was given them in which 
they ratified that great covenant and accepted Jehovah 
as their national God, they to be His peculiar people 
(Ex. 20-24). Having fulfilled His promise to bring 
them out of Egypt, He asks of them this covenant in 
which they covenant to be His and obedient to Him. 
It is formally ratified, not only by the spoken consent 
of the people, but by sprinkling them and the Book with 
the blood of burnt and peace offerings. It was further 
impressed by the taking of Moses, Aaron and seventy 



1 62 The Bible As It Is 

elders up into the mount and their having there a 
vision of Jehovah. They are now under the most 
solemn obligation to keep the law, and also under the 
most blessed relations to the God of heaven and earth, 
as His chosen people, to be led and fed and helped and 
used and glorified. 

Sinai represents the conviction of sin, righteousness 
and judgment, so necessary for the spiritual advance 
of the soul (Rom. 7). We have no more of Christ than 
we see, desire and appropriate. We have to be brought 
to this by conviction of our need by the law. It is sig- 
nificant that the law was given to a people already 
redeemed from Egypt. Conviction is as necessary 
for the believer as for the world, but it is not his per- 
manent place of experience. We are not to be always 
under Sinai. Therefore the gospel comes. 

In the New Testament this whole scene is contrasted 
with Christ and the gospel (2 Cor. 3 ; Heb. 8 : 6-13 ; 
12 : 18-29). The law is contrasted with the gospel. 
The law brings condemnation ; the gospel forgiveness. 
The law works by its terrors ; the gospel by its grace 
and love. The law was feared and soon forgotten ; 
the gospel is written on the heart and loved and re- 
membered. The law brings us to Mt. Sinai with its 
fearful threatenings ; the gospel to a view of the 
heavenly city with its redeemed saints. Mt. Sinai is 
the antithesis of Calvary. Their sins were punished. 
Ours are forgiven and forgotten. 

On the other hand, we are reminded of the greater 
responsibility of hearing such a superior gospel. If 



The Wilderness Journey 163 

they perished under Moses' law, what of those who re- 
ject Christ Himself? If they perished who sinned 
under the blood of the sacrifice, what of those who 
trample under foot the blood of Christ ? If they fell 
who refused Moses who spake on earth, what of those 
who refuse Him who speaks from heaven? (Heb. 
10 : 26-31.) 

Another great event was the giving and erection of 
the Tabernacle which thenceforth was the centre of 
the camp. This occupies the last part of Exodus. It 
was given to Moses in a vision and the directions for 
its erection were most minute, so that it can be built 
to-day from these directions, and has been often shown 
in models, which are a most helpful method of study- 
ing it. The study of the Tabernacle will come under 
the study of the ceremonial law, with which it is most 
intimately connected. Let it suffice here to say that 
it was the residence of Jehovah among the people. It 
was not so much the meeting-place of the people, 
though they did meet at its door, as the meeting-place 
of the people with Jehovah. It could not contain 
many people and only the priests were allowed to enter. 
The Pillar of Cloud rested upon the Tabernacle and 
spread thence over the entire camp as a canopy. 

3. Sinai to Canaan. 
numbers i to 19. 
The numbering of the people and the ordering of 
the camp was at Sinai and with this they left for the 
journey. 



1 64 The Bible As It Is 

The arrangement of the camp was in four divisions, 
one on each side of the Tabernacle, which was there- 
fore in the centre of the camp. Each of the four 
divisions was led by one of the four strong tribes, 
Judah on the east with Issachar and Zebulun. Reu- 
ben on the south, with Simeon and Gad, Ephraim on 
the west with Manasseh and Benjamin, and Dan on 
the north, with Asher and Naphtali. These group- 
ings were according to affinity. The tribes which 
were from sons of the same mother were together, and 
antagonistic tribes at the extremes. 

The Pillar of Cloud was spread over the camp like 
a canopy, a central stem resting on the Tabernacle. 
It shielded them from the burning sun by day and 
illuminated the camp at night. 

A regular order of march was commanded, Judah 
going first, the other camps following in order. While 
in camp, which was for considerable periods, they 
wandered far and near for forage. These encamp- 
ments must be distinguished from the daily camp 
when on the march. The manna was probably some 
natural production greatly multiplied for their use. 
A species of lichen is found in this region and its seeds 
are taken up by the wind and fall in great quantities. 
There is also a fungus which grows very plentifully. 
It is of a gray color and as large as a pea. The 
Arabs call it "angels' food." 

We cannot judge that country by what we see of 
it now any more than we can the land of Canaan. 
Neglect and lawlessness have rendered many regions 



The Wilderness Journey 165 

desolate which were once comparatively fertile. We 
must not suppose it all a sandy desert. The children 
of Israel had flocks and herds, and these required 
pasture. Their path and progress were adapted to 
their necessities. 

The march to Canaan is characterized by sin and 
rebellion and chastisement. The people rebel continu- 
ally and even Moses wearies and is given the seventy 
elders to aid him. Miriam and Aaron rebel against 
Moses. At Kadesh the whole nation turns from entering 
Canaan and disbelieve the good report of the spies 
and even turn against Moses. God shuts them out of 
Canaan and turns them back into the wilderness. 
They are doomed to fall in the wilderness, in which 
they are to wander the rest of forty years. Korah, 
Dathan and Abiram rebel against Moses* and Aaron's 
authority and are destroyed. The blossoming of 
Aaron's rod stops the murmuring against him. Some 
laws are given as called for by the need of the time. 

4. The Years of Wandering. 
The period of thirty-eight years after this is passed 
over without record of events. Only the stages of the 
journey are given (Num. 33). They are under the 
judgment of Jehovah. It is a time of apostasy. 
They worship the gods of the heathen (Amos 5 : 25, 26 ; 
Acts 7 : 42, 43). The people waste away with 
pestilences and other calamities (Num. 14: 30-33; 
32: 13; Ps. 78: ^^). It was probably during this 
time that Psalm ninety was written by Moses. It re- 



1 66 The Bible As It Is 

cites the brevity of life, threescore years and ten or 
fourscore years, which was far below the average life, 
but was the limited term of that generation. He re- 
views the anger of God and the fate of the sinners. 
The next Psalm was probably by Moses, also, and 
speaks of the security of the godly in these same cir- 
cumstances. All this time, however, they are fed and 
led (Deut. 2 : 7, 8). Jehovah does not forsake them. 
While the years of wandering were a time of chas- 
tisement, there was mercy also in them for the nation. 
With the expulsion of the Hyksos Kings, Pharaoh 
extended his empire east over Canaan and as far as the 
Euphrates. After the destruction of the Egyptians at 
the Red Sea the power of Egypt over these regions 
was relaxed, and they fell into a state of war and in- 
vasion from the east. The nations of Canaan were 
therefore much weakened when the children of Israel 
did enter. In the wilderness they were apart from 
these wars, and, although unsettled, were safe from 
foreign foes. 

5. The Fortieth Year, 
numbers 20 to end and deuteronomy. 
This is a year of many events. There is much of 
sin and rebellion as in the past thirty-eight years, and 
also much of blessing. Miriam and Aaron both 
die. The fiery serpents are sent among the people. 
Balaam prophesies in vain against the nation, but 
they fall into sin with Moab and many are de- 
stroyed. The second numbering now takes place, 



The Wilderness Journey 167 

showing that all over twenty have fallen as fore- 
told. Joshua is chosen and consecrated. War is had 
with the Midianites and with Og and Sihon, and their 
land is given to Reuben, Manasseh and Gad. The 
allotment of the land and the cities of refuge are pro- 
vided for. Moses writes the law, gives his farewell 
discourses in Deuteronomy, gives his song, blesses the 
tribes and dies on Pisgah. The nation is encamped in 
the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho. 

Conclusion. 

This closes the story of Israel in the wilderness. 
From the single progenitor they have increased to a na- 
tion of millions. They have passed through strange 
vicissitudes, but their Jehovah has not forsaken them. 
Now they stand at the door of Canaan. Moses is dead. 
A new captain has been appointed. Canaan is before 
them. 

Before we enter Canaan, let us review the work of a 
world-wide nature so far done by Israel as an instru- 
ment in Jehovah's hand to bring the world to the 
knowledge of Himself. Abraham was promised that 
he was to be a blessing to all the families of the 
earth. The plagues of Egypt and Israel's deliverance 
made Jehovah's name known to all the earth (Ex. 
9 : 16). A godly people have been prepared. The 
earth was falling into apostasy and these were kept in 
a measure from that fall. They were a comparatively 
pure race. They had been in a measure purged from 
the contamination of Egypt. 



1 68 The Bible As It Is 

Moses' Farewell, 
deuteronomy. 

The simplest view of this book is to take it at its 
own account of itself as the last words of Moses, his 
farewell discourses. While the decalogue was spoken 
from Mt. Sinai, and the ceremonial law in Leviticus 
from the Mercy Seat, the addresses of Deuteronomy 
are simply Moses' own words, inspired, of course, but 
not miraculously given. 

The outline of Deuteronomy is as follows : 

Chapters i-ii. A review of the past and ex- 
hortations. 

Chapters 1 2-26. A review of the Law. 

Chapters 27-30. The Blessings and Curses. 

Chapters 31-34. Moses' Last Words. 

1. A Review of the Past and Exhortations. 

Moses' review of the past is noticeable for what it 
omits and for what it recites. It is not a complete 
review of their history or even of their journey. He 
says little or nothing of Egypt or its bondage or the 
exodus or the march to Mt. Sinai or the wonders 
there. He begins at Mt. Sinai and passes with a 
word to Kadesh and dwells on the apostasy there. 
He omits all the thirty-eight years of wandering, — in- 
deed all the sad events of their journey. He wants to 
confirm and encourage them for the conquest. So 
God forgets our past. We are not to be continually 
occupied with the memory of our past sins and fail- 



The Wilderness Journey 169 

ures. If God has forgotten, so may we. Moses does 
tell them of the rulers he has appointed ; for they are 
soon to depend on them, and Moses would enforce 
their authority. The great event he recites is the 
coming to Kadesh Barnea and the story of the spies 
and the awful turning away from that entrance to the 
Promised Land. He wants no more sin like that. He 
will remind them once for all of the sin and effects of 
turning back from God. He tells them of the 
splendid victory over Sihon and Og, and the settle- 
ment of the two tribes and a half and that these are to 
go before them armed to fight. All this is with a 
view to their encouragement that they may be better 
prepared to enter Canaan. 

2. A Review of the Law. 
" Deuteronomy " means the second giving or review 
of the law ; but, as a matter of fact, there is only a 
small part reviewed. Of the one hundred and twenty 
matters mentioned in Deuteronomy, only a fraction 
are from the former books, Exodus, Numbers and 
Leviticus, while the greater part of this legislation is 
omitted and much new legislation is introduced. What 
Moses reviews are matters of special deficiency in their 
behavior or special need in view of their entrance into 
the Promised Land. He reviews in a hortatory way 
without trying to quote verbatim, and often breaks into 
a quotation with his own paraphrase or admonition. 
The Ten Commandments are reviewed in this par- 
aphrastic way. It is not a second repetition of the 



170 The Bible As It Is 

decalogue, but an address founded upon it. The new 
matters he gives are such as the people will need in the 
new land regarding battlements to houses, places of 
worship, gleanings, etc. The whole is more merciful, 
more spiritual than the original laws. Christ loved to 
quote from Deuteronomy. 

3. The Blessings and Curses. 

Moses had placed the nation under a covenant of 
blood at Mt. Sinai, but a new generation has come, 
so he now places them also under a set of awful 
prophecies. 

We must remember in studying Deuteronomy that 
it addresses a new generation many of whom had not 
seen Egypt, Mt. Sinai, or much of matters since. 
Now he brings to bear upon them that for which the 
law stands; blessing, if obeyed, cursing, if disobeyed. 
He recites these in detail and, as once before in 
Leviticus they are related (Lev. 26), he now reviews 
them. They are to hear the dreadful doom of those 
who disobey. It is needed ; man soon forgets the future 
danger for present pleasure and pursuits. The sum- 
ming up is given by Paul, " Cursed is every one that 
continueth not in all things that are written in the 
book of the law to do them " (Gal. 3 : 10). 

The people are required to say, Amen, to every 
curse pronounced upon themselves — if they disobey. 
They are cursed in body and soul, in property and 
family, in land and life, they and their descendants, 
with every blight and plague and evil that can afflict 



The Wilderness Journey 171 

mankind, so that they shall hate life and turn against 
each other and devour their nearest and dearest, and 
long for death to end it all. All this they that day 
call down upon themselves if they fail to keep that 
law. Moses then puts them under a covenant as he 
did at Mt. Sinai. It had its effect. That generation 
did not wander, and while any lived who remembered 
that awful day the nation was obedient. It was 
branded upon their souls. 

All this is accompanied with exhortations ; Moses 
pleading with the people to be obedient to God and 
His law. His soul is poured out in his emotions. 
He exhausts every feeling of his being in his intensity 
and earnestness. He sums up his exhortation in these 
words, "I call heaven and earth to witness against 
you this day, that I have set before you the life and 
death, the blessing and the curse ; therefore choose 
life that thou mayest live, both thou and thy seed " 
(Deut. 30 : 19). 

4. Moses* Last Words. 
In Moses' song (ch. 32), and in his blessing Moses 
reaches the highest inspired state. We have several 
of Moses* songs recorded, that at the overthrow of the 
Egyptians (Ex. 15 : 1), and Psalm ninety, which is 
ascribed to Moses. This song in his parting days 
deals with the election of Israel, their apostasy, their 
punishment and their restoration. It is a prophecy of 
their national history, as the blessings of the tribes 
which follows is a prophecy of their tribal history. 



172 The Bible As It Is 

It is of interest to us because we are mentioned in it, 
the gentiles coming to Christ (Deut. 32: 21; Rom. 
10: 19). 

Verse 8 is very significant. It tells us that God 
arranged the nations around Israel. This is for the 
world's benefit, as we have seen. The tender care of 
Jehovah in the figure of the eagle mother and her 
young (v. 11) is also here shown. In Moses* blessing 
of the tribes (ch. 33) he begins at Reuben, the 
eldest, giving Judah the next place, dwelling on Levi, 
the law teacher, and on Joseph the beloved, mention- 
ing his sons also. Simeon is omitted. It is useful to 
compare this list with the lists of the tribes as given 
elsewhere. 

Moses* death and burial are next related. He has 
done all and said all that he can. He has lived his 
life ; he is now an old man. Israel is at the edge of 
the Promised Land ready to enter, but Moses is for- 
bidden to enter. His sin, but more particularly the 
sin of the people, and still more his typical place for- 
bid his entrance. 

The account of Moses* death is most sublime. At 
an appointed time, knowing that he is going to die, 
he ascends Mount Pisgah. He is given a view of the 
Promised Land, doubtless aided supernaturally to see 
it in its full extent and glory ; then he lies down as a 
child to rest, and God kisses his soul away. There 
is a contest as to his body. Satan and Michael dis- 
pute about it (Jude 9). Doubtless the devil would 
like a great human funeral and a burial-place to turn 



The Wilderness Journey 173 

into an idolatrous place of worship in after years. 
But God forbids and the angels bury him. His ap- 
pearance on the Mount of Transfiguration with Elijah, 
who was translated without dying, looks as if his body 
had some special care given to it. No one knows of 
his sepulchre unto this day. 

Moses' Character and Place. 

He is to be considered personally and typically. 
Personally he is in some respects the greatest character 
in scripture. As the author of the law, he is ranked 
with prophets and apostles. His work lies at the basis 
of all modern civilization. His decalogue is the 
foundation of all society as well as religion. He is 
and will be forever the world's lawgiver. When we 
ask for the secrets of his greatness, we see many facts 
and traits. Some of these are noted below. 

1. He had a godly ancestry. So had most if not 
all of great men in scripture ; Joseph, Samuel, David, 
Jeremiah, Paul and Timothy. 

2. A remarkable training, parental, secular and 
spiritual, as we have seen. 

3. An early choice of godliness for himself, as 
against all the attractions the world could give to any 
man (Heb. 11 : 24-26). 

4. A ready acceptance of his mission to deliver 
Israel in face of untold dangers. 

5. His courage in facing Pharaoh and his deter- 
mination for victory in the face of the satanic deter- 
mination of Pharaoh not to let the people go. 



174 The Bible As It Is 

6. His administrative ability. To organize and 
lead and rule that undisciplined host was a vast test of 
such ability. 

7. His meekness in utter self-forgetfulness. There 
is no self-laudation in all this history. 

8. His renunciation of self in his prayer for Israel 
where he asks to perish if Israel might thus live (Ex. 

3 2: 3 2 )- 

Typically, Moses is even greater than he is per- 
sonally. 

1. He represents the law spiritually. Moses and 
law are synonyms typically. He has therefore to 
die outside of Canaan ; for the law can make nothing 
perfect, cannot save. Therefore Moses must submit 
to be set aside at the edge of conquest, and allow an- 
other to take his place and lead Israel into rest. 

2. He is a type of Christ as prophet. " A prophet 
shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your 
brethren like unto me" (Deut. 18 : 15 ; Acts 3 : 22). 

3. He has a prophetic place. He appears at the 
last day in judgment upon the wicked (Rev. 11: 
2-12). 

4. He is prophetic and illustrative of the gospel 
as will be seen in the review of the law. All the gos- 
pel of grace will be found there (Luke 24 : 27, 44). 

Spiritual Lessons from Israel. 
The journey of Israel and, indeed, their whole his- 
tory are typical of the spiritual history of the believer. 
The apostles often apply it so. It is the story of the 



The Wilderness Journey 175 

Pilgrim's Progress from the land of sin and bondage 
to liberty. 

The three states, Egypt, the Wilderness and 
Canaan, represent the soul under sin, law and grace 
respectively. The soul must be made tired of sin by 
its results, as Israel was made weary of Egypt by its 
bondage, otherwise they would have been willing to 
remain there always. The delights of sin must be 
made bitter as Israel's life was made bitter by tasks 
and oppression. By the death of Christ, typified in 
the Passover, and the work of Christ in defeating 
Satan, typified in the plagues of Egypt, the soul is de- 
livered and brought into freedom. 

Israel was baptized in the cloud and in the sea 
(1 Cor. 10 : 1, 2). The cloud is a type of the Holy 
Spirit in His Old Testament phase upon and with the 
Church, while now He is in the Church (John 14 : 17). 
The stream from the smitten rock represents the 
same Holy Spirit in His satisfying influences (1 Cor. 
10: 4; John 7: 37-39). The manna represents 
Christ's flesh or word by which we live (John 6 : 32 ; 
Matt. 4 : 4), the quails, the lusts of the flesh 
(Num. 11 : 18-20, $$) Gal. 6: 8). 

Conviction of sin must come to all ; so this is typi- 
fied in Mount Sinai when the thunders of law strike 
terror to their hearts. The works of the law being 
completed they come to the edge of Canaan repre- 
senting the life of rest in Christ. This is particularly 
the lesson in Hebrews third and fourth chapters. 

The apostasy of Israel at Kadesh is there made the 



176 The Bible As It Is 

text of warning to us not to fail to enter Christ. The 
land of rest is the life of rest in Christ. 

" There remaineth therefore a rest for the people of 
God ' ' does not mean heaven. The next verse shows 
that, "He that is entered into his rest he also hath 
ceased from his own works." (See Heb. 3 : 7 to 4 : 11.) 
" Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest." 

The refusal of Israel at Kadesh Barnea to enter 
Canaan was the great sin of their wilderness journey. 
It turned them back into the wilderness and all that 
generation save two fell before the final entrance into 
the Promised Land. It represents the failure to enter 
Christ in full consecration when the opportunity is 
presented (Rom. 6: 13; 12 : 1). 

This is the common experience still. Few seem to 
pass at once to victorious Christian life. The wilder- 
ness life therefore is the life of most Christians. It is 
a life of unrest, of frequent backsliding, of chastise- 
ments, of much murmuring. The sins at the begin- 
ning were those of despondency ; towards the close, 
sins of presumption. So in the Christian life the first 
falls are from discouragement; then come later the 
more guilty sins of rebellion. The root of all is dis- 
satisfaction with God's leading and unbelief in His 
presence or goodness. 

This state is the opposite of being " filled with the 
Spirit." It is a state of want of assurance, of failing 
before besetting sins, of want of power in service. 
Prayers are few and feeble and often unanswered. 
There are many hours of brooding and unhappiness. 



The Wilderness Journey 177 

God's love is doubted. The soul is robbed of its joy 
and peace, and the gospel stripped of its attractive- 
ness in the eyes of all beholders. Many live and die 
in this state, and never know the life of victory "in 
Christ " (Rom. 8), the fruit of the Spirit and its rest. 

The sins of Israel were also of another kind, those 
of presumption. They rebelled and profaned God's 
service, and finally abandoned it and served other 
gods. So to-day the unspiritual, unconsecrated 
Christian falls into open sin, into habits utterly in- 
consistent with his profession. This is the case to- 
day. The prevalence of the many anti- Christian 
systems springing up and attaining such vast propor- 
tions is evidence of a wilderness state of life among 
multitudes. They get their adherents from dissatis- 
fied or unsatisfied Christians. Those filled with the 
Spirit never fall into these beliefs. There is no safety 
for an unconsecrated Christian. 

The sins of Israel are held up as warnings. That 
with the golden calf is especially held up as a warn- 
ing (1 Cor. 10 : 1-12). If that redeemed people were 
so chastised for their sins, we may be sure that we 
will be also. False or erroneous religious beliefs in- 
evitably lead to wrong lives. The rush into pleas- 
ures, especially unclean pleasures, was the sin of that 
people. First came worship of the golden calf; then 
festivity, then lascivious pleasure;. "They sat down 
to eat and to drink and rose up to play." 

They hovered about the edge of Canaan, per- 
haps attempting as at first to enter presumptuously, 



178 The Bible As It Is 

but failed. They are like those " ever learning and 
never coming to the knowledge of the truth " (2 Tim. 
3: 7). It is the "Oh, wretched man that I am" 
state of Romans seventh. The whole lesson is 
"Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you 
an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living 
God. . . . To-day if ye will hear His voice 
harden not your hearts " (Heb. 3 : 12, 15). 

2. The reverse of the picture is the unfailing 
goodness of God all this time of wandering. He 
never forsakes His people; the manna never fails 
nor does the pillar of cloud ever leave them. They 
are protected from outward foes and led day by day. 
They are not cast off; they are still His own pe- 
culiar people. He deals with them as with sons ; he 
chastises them, and every sin brings its punishment. 
This is the difference between the people of God and 
the people of the world. The latter often go on with- 
out adversity to the end, and then their doom is sealed. 
God does not so neglect His people. Nor does He 
make any record of that long time of wandering. It 
is a forgotten page of history blotted out and not to 
be remembered. The eternal record will show only 
the time of fidelity. So our sins are cast behind His 
back and never remembered against us. There will 
be but short histories to some lives, however, when 
the record is made up. The story leads us to a brighter 
page, and Israel has another opportunity, and this they 
gladly and boldly embrace, and so enter Canaan. So 
with us there comes the call to a better life in Christ. 



CHAPTER XII 

THE LAW 

That body of legislation contained in the Penta- 
teuch is called The Law. There are hundreds of 
commands but these form one body of law. These 
were given as needed. We are not to suppose it was 
all given or arranged as we have it. The various oc- 
casions of the giving are often named. The most 
necessary were given first. The decalogue with other 
most necessary laws were given as soon as Sinai was 
reached. After the erection of the Tabernacle the 
laws of Leviticus were given, these forming the cere- 
monial law which could not have been observed pre- 
vious to this time. Before starting on the march to 
Canaan the law of the camp and march was given 
(Num. 1-9). On the way and during the several 
episodes mentioned much of the rest of Numbers was 
given ; and at the edge of Canaan, just before Moses* 
death, all of Deuteronomy. 

The germ and centre of the whole law was the 

decalogue, the ten commandments on the two tables 

of stone. These were called the Testimony and these 

gave the name to the Ark which contained them. It 

was the Ark of the Testimony. They also gave the 

name to the Tabernacle. It was the Tabernacle of 

179 



180 The Bible As It Is 

Testimony. It was over these tables of stone that the 
cherubim hovered in reverence, and above them rested 
the brightness which we have reason to believe filled the 
Holy of Holies. It was on the Mercy Seat covering 
the law that the blood of expiation was sprinkled, 
the demands of this law making such atonement 
necessary. The pillar of cloud rested on the Taber- 
nacle as on a place on which God could rest with ap- 
proval. The Ten Commandments then represent the 
centre of all that complicated system. To under- 
stand these and the relation of all the other laws to 
them is to obtain the key to all. We will consider 
the form of the decalogue, its basis in pre-mosaic law, 
its scope and expression in spiritual, ethical, civil and 
ceremonial law. Exodus contains most ethical law ; 
Leviticus, most ceremonial; Numbers, most civil; 
and Deuteronomy, most spiritual law. 

i. The Form of the Decalogue. 

The Ten Commandments were written on two 
tables of stone which were placed in the Ark. These 
two tables represented respectively duties to God and 
duties to man. The usual arrangement is of four on 
the first and six on the second ; but the arrangement 
of three on the first and seven on the second as fol- 
lows seems more probable and reasonable. 

i. This arrangement makeg a more equal division 
of the matter. 

2. It places the Fourth Commandment among 



The Law 



181 



those regarding human duties, and Christ tells us that 
the Sabbath was made for man. 

3. It arranges the commandments in groups of 
three for the divine side of the law and seven for the 
human side, and these numbers are respectively the 



1 

11 

111 



IV 

v 

VI 

VII 

VIII 
IX 
X 



numbers of deity and humanity in manifested per- 
fection. Three is the well-known number of the 
Trinity which is God's manifestation of Himself to 
man. There is also an adaptation of the three to the 
three respective persons of the Trinity ; the Father is 
the subject of the First Commandment ; Christ is in- 



1 82 The Bible As It Is 

volved in the Second, as He is the only image of God 
we are permitted to see or know; while the Third 
Commandment looks to that profanation of the Holy- 
Spirit which has no forgiveness. So also the number 
seven represents the perfection of human conduct. 
Seven is three added to four. Four is the scripture 
number for earth and humanity. Three added to four 
then represents the perfections of God added to man, 
or perfect human conduct. This the second table of 
the law demands. Perfect duty to God and man then 
is the meaning of the law. 

2. Law Before Moses. 

The Ten Commandments have a basis in the laws 
given before the time of Moses. It is evident that 
right was always right and wrong was always wrong. 
The giving of the Ten Commandments was not the 
origin of law. 

The eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge by 
Adam and Eve was the violation of every command- 
ment. It violated the First by acknowledging an- 
other before God. It violated the Second by seeking 
another way to approach God than that which He had 
ordered. It violated the Third by profaning the name 
of God upon them as well as by their use of His name 
in the temptation. It violated the Fourth by break- 
ing the Sabbath of rest which God had entered upon 
and in which they lived. It violated the Fifth by 
dishonoring their heavenly Father. It violated the 
Sixth by bringing death upon themselves and others. 



The Law 183 

It violated the Seventh, for it involved sexual sin. It 
violated the Eighth, for they took what was not theirs. 
It violated the Ninth, for they bore false witness 
against God. It violated the Tenth, by coveting. 
So also the tree of life represents the reverse of all 
this, the keeping of the law. 

We see the germs of the ceremonial law in the 
skins with which this first pair were clothed ; for that 
covering meant the very essence of sacrifice, benefit 
by the death of another. We also find mention of 
sacrifices of clean animals as if this law was well known. 
Certainly this must have been by revelation. Special 
laws were given, as the laws regarding the Sabbath 
and marriage and that against murder given to Noah. 
The curse on Ham shows a knowledge of the duty of 
parental honor. The sanctity of property would come 
with the possession of property. So that the germs 
of all the laws of the decalogue were in the world be- 
fore the time of Moses. It was not therefore a new 
standard of right which was given to man in the Ten 
Commandments, but one as eternal as God Himself. 

3. The Scope of the Law. 

The Ten Commandments were the centre and 
spring of all the system of law, spiritual, ethical, 
ceremonial and civil, given by Moses. Every law of 
any kind was an extension of one or more of these 
commandments. One may take his Bible and with a 
pencil mark opposite each of the commands of the 
Pentateuch, however various, the number of some 



1 84 



The Bible As It Is 



command of the decalogue under which it comes. 
It forms, not a system of laws, but The Law and it is 
always thus designated in scripture when spoken of 
collectively ; so that to break it in one place was to 
break The Law, and, if wilful, the penalty was death. 
He that offendeth in one point is guilty of all 
(Jas. 2:10). 

The following diagram represents this unity and 
relationship of the various parts of the law. It is to 
be read from the centre outward. 




The Law 185 

We will give under each command the general class 
of laws which it covers. 

1. The First Commandment shut" up Israel to 
Jehovah as their only God and ruler. The whole 
system of government with all its civil and religious 
legislation therefore rested upon it. All subordinate 
rulers were representatives of Jehovah. This is 
still the principle of the New Testament (Rom. 
13 : 1-4). This command is indeed the basis of all 
law of every kind. 

2. The Second Commandment, forbidding images 
as a wrong way of worshiping Jehovah, is the force of 
this, for the idea of the image is to represent the 
deity in or behind that image. The forbidding of 
the false way of worship therefore carries the right 
and necessity to prescribe the true way of worship. 
So that under this come all the laws of worship with 
respect to the Tabernacle, the offerings and ceremonies 
of every kind. In short the whole ceremonial law 
rests on this, as the whole governmental system rests 
on the First Commandment. 

3. The Third Commandment, the keeping sacred of 
the name of God, covers all the laws called specifically 
Laws of Holiness. These include laws regarding 
ceremonial uncleanness such as the law of the leper 
and his cleansing, clean and unclean food, etc. These 
rest on the fact that Israel is God's peculiar people, 
bearing His name and representing His cause and 
rule, and ought therefore to keep themselves sacred 
because they bear His name. It was a profanation 



1 86 The Bible As It Is 

of the name of God to defile themselves. This is 
also the teaching of the New Testament (Rom. 2 : 24). 

4. The Fourth Commandment respecting the 
Sabbath requires the keeping of one seventh of the 
time as holy. It is the basis of all sacred time, the 
seventh year, the seventy times seven or Jubilee year, 
and also the whole system of feasts and fasts. In 
short the Sabbath was the centre of the whole 
religious calendar. 

5. On the Fifth Commandment rests the whole 
system of laws of the home. The father was the 
ruler by right natural and divine. The laws of 
Moses fixed his right as supreme in the home. The 
whole family life rested on this and laws as to servants 
and the aged also. 

6. The sanctity of human life, with all the laws 
relating to the protection of life rest on the Sixth 
Commandment, including laws regarding murder, 
assault and cities of refuge. 

7. On the Seventh Commandment rest all laws 
respecting women, divorce, unchastity and marriage. 

8. All laws respecting property, restitution, dis- 
honesty, weights and measures, usury, land, strays, etc., 
are based on the Eighth Commandment. 

9. On the Ninth Commandment are based all 
laws respecting evidence, trials, judicial proceedings, 
perjury and oaths. 

10. All laws regarding charity, the poor and 
strangers, tithes, love to enemies, etc., rest on the 
Tenth Commandment. 



The Law 187 

4. The Spiritual Law. 

1. The law is first of all spiritual (Rom. 7 : 14). 
It comes from a spiritual being, and reflects God's 
nature. The commandments are all based on the 
nature of God. 1. God's sovereignty. 2. God's 
worship. 3. God's sanctity. 4. God's time. 5. 
God's delegated authority. 6. God's life given. 7. 
God's sanctity in marriage. 8. Sanctity of owner- 
ship in title from God. 9. Sanctity of truth, for God 
is truth. 10. Sanctity of the heart. 

The law is a transcript of the righteousness of God. 
Now Jesus Christ is declared to be the righteousness 
of God, not only imputed, but personally, for He 
could not be imputed or imparted unless He had it 
to give. We must therefore see in Christ the perfect 
transcript of the Law. So when He came He ful- 
filled the law, both moral and ceremonial. He said 
« 

He came to fulfil the law. He also taught it. The 
Sermon on the Mount was a sermon on the law. But 
it was in Himself and in His life that He manifested 
the perfect law. 

2. The law is spiritual because it works through a 
spiritual relation established between man and God. 
The three commandments relating to God precede 
the seven commandments relating to man. The latter 
are dependent on the former. There would be no 
motive for the keeping of any commandment if the 
first three commandments did not exist. Man must 
have a standard of right and wrong, and this is the 
will of God. If he accepts this, he is in right rela- 



1 88 The Bible As It Is 

tionship to God and in right spirit for keeping the 
commandments. The law was given to Israel, who 
were God's people. It began, " I am the Lord thy 
God which brought thee out of the land of Egypt 
and out of the house of bondage M (Ex. 20). 

3. The law is also spiritual because it appeals to a 
spiritual nature. Man " has a law of God written in 
the heart " (Rom. 2 : 15). He has a God-conscious- 
ness, which is the principal distinction between him 
and the brute. This awakened becomes a spiritual 
life. It is to this that the law appeals and it is only 
this that can keep the law. The Ten Commandments 
are ineffectual with natural man. Only by constant 
constraint will he keep them. God designed this 
spiritual nature to control the whole man. His lower 
nature is to obey it, and only thus can he keep the 
law. 

4. The law is spiritual because it is in effect 
spiritual. The keeping of the law would be perfect 
love to God and man. The keeping of the first three 
commands would express perfect love to God. The 
keeping of the last seven would express perfect love to 
man. This is seen in the converse of this statement. 
Perfect love to God would keep the first three com- 
mandments ; perfect love to man would keep the last 
seven. Or, as Christ stated it, " Thou shalt love the 
Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul and 
with all thy mind. This is the first and great com- 
mandment ; and a second like unto it is thou shalt 
love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two com- 



The Law 189 

mandments hangeth all the law and the prophets M 
(Matt. 22:37-39). 

5. The law is spiritual because the violating of the 
law is first spiritual before it is actual and open. It 
begins with unbelief in God. If man truly believed 
in God, in His goodness and faithfulness and wisdom, 
he would trust and obey Him. Either through 
ignorance of God or through a perverted mind, he 
distrusts and therefore seeks other ways of benefit. 

The violation begins with the last or Tenth Com- 
mandment. "Lust when it hath conceived bringeth 
forth sin, and sin when it is finished bringeth forth 
death' ' (Jas. 1 : 15). This leads along the way of 
the Ten Commandments. Lust leads to deception ; 
it conceals itself under apparent honesty, then comes 
theft or unchastity or murder or disobedience. All 
profane the name of God. The sinner seeks some 
other way than God's to make himself right, so viola- 
ting the second command ; and at last there is repudi- 
ation of God or substitution of something else for 
him. The course now sweeps backward and forward 
at will through the whole law without restraint. 

6. The law is spiritual because it expresses the 
love of God more than all else, save His giving of 
Jesus Christ. It is, next to the gospel, the greatest 
boon to humanity. It is the basis of all civilization 
and safety. We would be a race of savages without 
this standard of right and the blessings which even its 
partial observance gives. 

Here we see that there is no antagonism between 



190 The Bible As It Is 

the law and the gospel; both come from the same 
God, require the same relation, appeal to the same 
spiritual nature and have the same spiritual effect. 

As Dean Alford has said, " There is but one law 
of God partly written in man's consciences, more 
plainly manifested in the laws of Moses, and fully 
revealed in Jesus Christ* ' (New Testament 2 : 332). 

If there is want of efficiency in the law, it is not 
because it is unspiritual, but because of man's un- 
spiritual nature and the presence in all of an un- 
spiritual nature called the flesh which cannot keep 
the law of God. 

5. The Ethical Laws. 

The Ten Commandments give certain great princi- 
ples by which wise and especially experienced be- 
lievers can decide their course, but the Israelite of 
that day was not such. He was a child in spiritual 
things as was the whole of mankind. It was neces- 
sary therefore to give him specific directions as to 
every act of life and worship. This the Mosaic law 
does. He is told not only the principles of right, but 
the application of these principles. He is given a 
schedule of right and wrong acts. The law was ex- 
tended into x all phases of life by subsidiary ethical 
laws which prescribed what to do in specific cases. 
In some cases, perhaps the most as has been said, 
these laws came from actual cases which came up in 
the course of jurisprudence. 

Under each of the Ten Commandments will be 



The Law 191 

found some applications of them to actual questions 
of conduct. The law forbidding the seething of a 
kid in its mother's milk (Ex. 23 : 19), besides having 
reference to a superstitious rite of the heathen, was to 
impress sacredness of the relation of parent and off- 
spring. The care for human life taught in the Sixth 
Commandment gave rise to the command to build 
battlements around the roofs of their houses, so as to 
prevent any one's falling off (Deut. 22:8). The 
Seventh Commandment was the basis of the command 
to give a divorced wife a writing of divorcement 
(Deut. 24 : 1). The law against removing a land- 
mark was but an extension of the Eighth Command- 
ment; so tale-bearing was a violation of the Ninth 
Commandment (Deut. 19 : 14). The laws for the 
poor and those requiring the leaving of the gleanings 
(Lev. 19:9), would spring from the spirit of the 
Tenth Commandment. 

This minuteness in law is one of the objections 
sometimes made to the whole system ; but it is to be 
remembered that such a system is necessary to a low 
state of spiritual life and experience. We deal so 
with children. We cannot expect them to be guided 
by abstract principles as in older life. Israel was in 
such a state of childhood, as was also the entire 
world at that time. It was the child state of the 
Church (Gal. 4 : 1-3). 

This answers another objection as to the imperfec- 
tion of some of the Mosaic laws, such as the permis- 
sion of polygamy and slavery, and retaliation. This 



192 The Bible As It Is 

imperfection was admitted by Christ, who amended 
the law especially as to retaliation (Matt. 5 : 21, 27, 
33? 38). The great principles of the decalogue are 
unchangeable, but their application by these subsidiary 
laws can be and was modified as greater light de- 
manded. We do not require the same rules of life 
for a child as for a man, for an idiot as for a sane 
person, for a convert just from heathenism as for the 
aged saint. We ourselves are not living in a state of 
perfect righteousness. God's own holiness is far 
above anything man knows, or can conceive of, as 
yet. Sinful man, even regenerated man, cannot bear 
the full light of the absolute and perfect holiness of 
God. 

The study of the moral law suggests the difference 
between Old Testament and New Testament ethics. 
The Old Testament ethics rested on specific com- 
mands; the New Testament on great moral and 
spiritual principles, as the golden rule already re- 
ferred to, which acted upon would keep the law so 
far as our conduct towards man is concerned. Love 
is the short cut to morality if embodied in the heart. 
It works from the centre outward instead of from the 
circumference inward. It affects the heart first and 
the life afterwards in consequence. Only the con- 
duct which comes from this changed state of heart is 
real or accepted of God. The young ruler, though 
he did all that the law commanded, which Christ ad- 
mitted, yet lacked one thing, the changed heart. 
Morality is one thing, spirituality another. Chris. 



The Law 193 

tian ethics spring from spirituality; the moralist's 
from other motives all more or less selfish and weak. 
The great principle which the New Testament 
gives is love. One who has the love of God 
has the love of His law also, and the psalmists are 
continually breaking out in such expressions as, 
"Oh! how love I Thy law.' ' The principle of 
love already referred to will keep the law, there- 
fore the New Testament narrows all down to that. 
The Talmud says that there are six hundred and 
thirteen injunctions given by Moses ; David reduced 
them to eleven (Ps. 15); Isaiah reduced them to 
six (33: 15); Micah to three (6: 8). It might 
add that Jesus reduced them to two. "Thoushalt 
love the Lord thy God . . . and thy neighbor 
as thyself " (Matt. 22: 37). Paul still further con- 
denses them when he says " Love is the fulfilling of 
the law " (Rom. 13: 10). 

6. The Civil Laws. 

The principles of the decalogue extended, as has 
been said, to all the spheres of life ; therefore to the 
political and social state. It has been shown that the 
whole civil system of Israel rested upon the First 
Command, "Thou shalt have no other gods before 
me." This rested first on God's call and deliverance 
of them as a nation from Egyptian bondage (Ex. 
20 : 2, 3), and that on the covenant made with Abra- 
ham (Ex. 3:6). 

Jehovah was Israel's Sovereign. We call this form 



194 The Bible As It Is 

of government a Theocracy, The Reign of God. 
They on their part were His peculiar people (Deut. 
14 : 2), and He asked and provided for allegiance 
solely to Himself. It was therefore a Church State 
and had a State Church. These two must go to- 
gether. It is useless to provide a state church if there 
is not a church state. All laws were God's laws, 
whether civil or religious. The whole people were a 
sacred people, their land consecrated, their time holy, 
their position to the rest of the world as a nation of 
priests or a priestly nation. We must consider the 
form of government in its ideal rather than its actual 
state as existing in Israel's history. What we should 
strive to ascertain is the actual state of things given 
by God to Israel. 

1. The first principle that God gave them was 
liberty. Everything was submitted to their choice. 
Even Jehovah Himself submitted to the nation's 
choice as to whether they would have Him for their 
God and ruler (Ex. 4: 29-31). Thus also He sub- 
mitted the law for their acceptance (Ex. 24 : 7). 
When they wanted a king they were given one chosen 
of God, but submitted to their choice (1 Sam. 
10 : 24 ; 2 Sam. 2 : 4 ; 5 : 3). They had the right of 
suffrage and elected their subordinate rulers. 

2. It was a constitutional government. The law 
of Moses was such a document as was necessary for 
this. With the Abrahamic Covenant it bound both 
Jehovah and the nation. It safeguarded the rights 
of the people as well as of the king. It was formally 



The Law 195 

ratified by a covenant of blood after the rites of that 
day (Ex. 24: 6-8). It will thus be seen that Israel 
had the two great fundamental principles of modern 
government, and that thousands of years ago. The 
political privileges of the freest and most enlightened 
nations to-day are based on these principles. 

3. The twelve tribes formed a union of states in- 
dependent within their respective boundaries in local 
matters, but all bound together by this great body of 
laws and the relations which sprang from it. Each 
tribe maintained its own tribal form and rule. There 
were princes and elders of each tribe. From these 
were formed certain national bodies. 

(1.) The Seventy Elders (Ex. 24: 1-9; Num. 
11 : 16) formed a central deliberative body, which we 
hear of as acting for the nation. 

(2.) A larger body was that sometimes called The 
Congregation. This was not the entire nation, men, 
women and children, but selected representatives who 
could and did meet and confer (Num. 10 : 3, 4). 
This was the highest body in the nation. These two 
bodies corresponded to our houses of congress or 
houses of parliament. The Seventy Elders were the 
Senate or House of Lords; the larger body, the 
House of Representatives, or Commons. 

(3.) Of less importance were the tribal officers and 
elders and princes and heads of families. Besides 
these, or including these, were the rulers of tens, 
hundreds, and thousands, specially chosen to assist 
Moses and continued afterwards (Ex. 18 : 13-27). 



196 The Bible As It Is 

(4.) The priesthood was a permanent order of the 
family of Aaron. The duties of the priests at first were 
purely religious, but afterwards they took part in the 
government as did Eli (1 Sam. 4 : 18). This body of 
priests gave steadiness to the government ; they inter- 
preted the law. It answered therefore to our Supreme 
Court. 

(5.) Another office was that of prophet. This was 
neither elective nor hereditary. Men were called by 
God and sent into the nation to speak for God, who 
thus gave them communications from Himself. The 
prophets gave guidance and often reproof as they 
were instructed by God, and more than once restored 
the government when on the verge of anarchy or mis- 
rule. The prophet spoke for God to the people. The 
priest spoke for the people to God. 

As the nation grew they added treasurers, recorders, 
rulers over the host, counsellors, directors of the 
tribute and other officers. But we are now only to 
look at those provided for in the Mosaic Law. 

4. God gradually gave the nation self-government. 
He spoke directly from Mount Sinai. He accom- 
panied them after that by an angel. At last He spoke 
only through Moses ; and in Canaan, by prophets who 
came as needed. 

5. The judicial part of the government was com- 
mitted to a regular system of ascending courts. Such 
were the rulers of tens, hundreds and thousands (Ex. 
18 : 20) above mentioned ; the Supreme Court, as be- 
fore stated, being composed of the priesthood. 



The Law 197 

The whole tribe of Levi was selected for the service 
of the Tabernacle. They were assigned special 
duties such as that of song, and the care of the Tab- 
ernacle itself, and served in courses, living in cities 
assigned to them throughout the whole nation and 
coming up at their appointed seasons. 

Whether all this system was in perfect use at any 
one time it is difficult to say, but probably not. A 
perfect system of law does not ensure a perfect gov- 
ernment. Law then, as now, often was neglected, 
and the actual was far below the ideal. But this out- 
line shows the perfect system as ordered for Israel. It 
contains the features of the most advanced forms of 
modern government and all such are, knowingly or 
not, copies of this ; all of which proves the divinity 
of the whole, for this was given thousands of years 
ago when the world had no such governments, as we 
have now, and still less any such ideas of liberty and 
security. Constitutional government and liberty were 
first taught by Moses as revealed to him by God. 

The Criminal Code. 

The criminal laws of Moses are to-day the basis of 
the codes of all civilized lands. They cover the fol- 
lowing essential points : 

1 . The Home. The Fifth Commandment secures 
this element of civilization. The home of all civi- 
lized lands is a copy of Israel's. The servants' rights 
were guarded. A mild form of slavery was allowed ; 
but this institution was universal, and the servant 



198 The Bible As It Is 

or slave was protected, and no Hebrew slave allowed. 
The service was made in a large degree voluntary. 
Provision was made for emancipation every fiftieth 
year. 

2. Protection of life was secured. Death for 
murder was commanded, but justice in this was se- 
cured by the Cities of Refuge. The infliction of the 
death penalty was placed in the hands of the nearest 
of kin, as is done in all such lands. This secured 
quick execution which is the value of all penalty. 

3. Women were protected and honored among the 
Hebrews. The wife was in a place of honor and 
safety. Divorce was allowed, but was secured from 
abuse by writings of divorce officially issued. Adul- 
tery was severely punished. 

4. The rights of property were secured. Restitu- 
tion was made and fines imposed. 

5. Trials were secured from injustice by rigorous 
laws against bribes and false swearing. 

Some of the various penalties inflicted were fining, 
restitution, retaliation for bodily injuries, flogging to 
the extent of forty stripes save one, and death by 
stoning or the sword. No torturing was allowed, and 
their methods of execution were quick and compara- 
tively painless. There were not many imprisonments, 
a kind of punishment which at best is doubtful in its 
effects, on the prisoner at least. 

The Mosaic code is sometimes said to be cruel be- 
cause under it over a dozen crimes were punished by 
death. In view of the fact that up to two hundred years 



The Law 199 

ago there were one hundred and seventy-four such in 
Great Britain, Moses' law seems merciful in comparison, 
especially when we consider the early age in which it was 
given and the world's general spirit of disregard for 
human rights and human life. The laws of a religious 
nature calling for the death penalty were based on the 
principle that Jehovah was their rightful sovereign, and 
that therefore idolatry and blasphemy and other such 
crimes were treason against their sovereign, and sub- 
versive of the whole system of rule and safety. 

The Social System. 

The Mosaic laws passed out over the social state 
and effected it accordingly. The life of the Israelite 
was mainly agricultural, pastoral or horticultural, or a 
mingling of all. They lived in villages and went out 
to the fields to work. This gave the society of the 
town and the advantages of the country. The isola- 
tion of country life is in many places its great disad- 
vantage. 

Land was given in homesteads and these were in- 
alienable. At the end of every fifty years all home- 
steads were to go back free to their owners. This 
further checked monopolies and the forming of vast 
landed estates. Every man had a chance once in his 
life. 

The contracting of heavy indebtedness was made 
difficult, if not impossible, by the law that at the end 
of every seven years all debts were declared can- 
celed. This would be a hardship to creditors if 



200 The Bible As It Is 

enacted now or where debts already existed, but to 
begin with such a law no wrong was done and great 
evils were prevented. Moses provided for doing all 
business on a cash basis. This prevented all corporate 
and communal indebtedness. The debts of many 
nations and communities are to-day unpayable, there 
is no intention of paying them, and they are increas- 
ing. No such state could exist under Moses* legisla- 
tion. This was a great check on monopolies also, for 
it is the right to borrow money and issue bonds which 
largely gives these their power. 

Sanitary laws were enacted also ; and cleanliness of 
person and premises was commanded. When the state 
of these eastern lands is considered in these respects, 
the high nature of his legislation is noticeable. The 
constant washings provided for under the law, while 
largely ceremonial in their immediate motive, had a 
hygienic value also. The distinction between clean 
and unclean animals then laid down to-day forms the 
line between the food of civilized and that of other 
nations. Isolation of contagious diseases was also 
commanded. The whole effect of this legislation is 
seen in the Jews to-day, although only partially ob- 
served. They have little or no scrofula. Among 
them only half the number of infants die as among 
other nations and the average length of life is a fourth 
greater. 

The laws of rest need to be noticed ; not only 
those respecting the Sabbath, the essential of health, 
but those pertaining to the frequent festivals which 



The Law 201 

were social as well as religious and were a means of 
recreation. One whole year in every seven was given 
in which no crops were to be sown, all debts were to 
be canceled and servants freed. The fiftieth year 
was the climax of the Israelitish system ; at that time 
all homesteads were restored, all debts cancelled, all 
servants released and all the people rested. 

The question naturally occurs, what was the ap- 
plication of all this and what was the effect, and what 
is the possibility to-day of the application of such a 
system? 

The whole coloring of the Old Testament is 
Mosaic ; yet this system of laws was probably never 
observed as it should have been, any more than the 
best laws are so observed to-day. But it was enacted 
sufficiently to observe its general effect which is thus 
stated. " Israel dwelt safely, every man under his 
vine and under his fig tree. . . . Judah and 
Jerusalem were many, as the sand which is upon the 
sea in multitude, eating and drinking and making 
merry (1 Kings 14: 20, 25). 

Can this system be enacted to-day ? We are living 
in a time when social questions are in the mind of all. 
Therefore this question is an interesting and timely 
one. 

There are three necessities often mentioned as 
essential for a successful life for man, animal or plant ; 
heredity, environment and development. 

These three God used in Israel. He began with a 
selected race, sifted, as has been seen, from the world. 



102 



The Bible As It Is 



He also had a spiritual race as compared with the 
world at large, that is a race that knew of God and 
had a spiritual conception of Him ; there were also 
among them many really spiritual people. This is the 
essential of the divine law. Neither in its spiritual 
nor civil aspects is it possible but as embodied in a 
spiritual people. It was the failure of the people 
themselves- that at last brought the whole system down 
to ruin. It failed by reason of the failure of human 
nature, and that remains the same to-day. Environ- 
ment is the second need; a land rightly situated 
to give freedom from contact with the wicked 
world about them, yet at its centre to affect it 
favorably, with sufficient food and other necessaries 
of life. The development of the Hebrews was under 
the direct reign of God Himself. Given these three 
qualifications, and this system may be enacted any- 
where. These however are the very qualifications now 
lacking and there is no prospect of their coming in 
our present order of things ; so that, under these con- 
ditions, this system is now not actually practicable. 
But so far as any nation adopts the principles of the 
Bible, it enjoys this state ; and the more it conforms 
to them, the better will be the state of its people. 

There are also great spiritual lessons which, after 
all, are the residuum of value from all this history and 
this great national experiment. In this experiment 
God did show what a nation might be under present 
conditions with obedience to Him. 

It is evident that such a system of law would soon 



The Law 203 

be known and admired and copied by other nations, 
and this was the purpose of God in giving it. Israel 
was to be a national teacher. Again and again it is 
said that God's glory was at this time declared 
throughout the earth. The influence of Israel upon the 
world at that time is a neglected but fruitful theme. 
It will yet be found that all that this world has had 
of useful progress has been inspired in ancient as well 
as in modern times by the word of God given to His 
people. The rise of the great civilizations of Rome 
and Greece was at the time of the downfall and dis- 
persion of the Israelites through the world. Such a 
people and such a system could not fail to affect 
mankind. We are told "all the kings of the earth 
came to hear the wisdom of Solomon. " This was 
about four hundred years after Moses. Here is direct 
evidence of the universal effort of the Mosaic system 
upon the world. 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE CEREMONIAL LAW 

A large part of the Pentateuch is taken up with 
laws regarding ceremonials, such as the consecration 
of priests, offerings, purifications from certain defile- 
ments, prohibitions of certain food, and commands 
respecting feasts and ceremonies. Some of these, 
such as those relating to feasts, washing after touching 
dead bodies, and the use of clean and unclean food, 
have a physical value, but many have only a cere- 
monial value, and even those mentioned have their 
principal sanction in their ceremonial meaning. 
Therefore the religious and spiritual meaning is the 
great matter ; they were great object lessons to teach 
great spiritual truths. 

Certain underlying principles need to be understood 
before the spiritual meaning can be grasped. 

i. The whole system rested on the fact that the 
Israelites were Jehovah's people and He was their 
God. This was provided for in the Abrahamic 
covenant and by their own assent in the covenant at 
Mount Sinai. 

2. This relation required, on their part, holiness. 
They were to be holy because they were in such rela- 
tions to Jehovah. "Be ye holy for I am holy." 

204 



The Ceremonial Law 205 

While much of the moral law looked to man, the 
ceremonial law looked to God. It was with God in 
mind that they offered sacrifices and performed cere- 
monies. 

3. He taught them what holiness was by these 
outward ceremonies. Physical cleanliness taught the 
greater need of spiritual cleanliness. God fenced 
Himself off from them by these laws, requiring such 
offerings and performances as to teach them His own 
holiness and the need of holiness on their part. Sin- 
ful man could not approach a holy God without 
preparation. 

4. There was a deeper meaning still. Besides 
personal holiness, there was also an imputed holiness 
taught them as necessary. They were shown that, 
even with all that they could do, there remained the 
need of a perfect holiness that only God Himself 
could furnish them. The offerings therefore pointed 
to this. It was the same imputed righteousness that 
we enjoy, only then it was in the future as far as ac- 
complishment was concerned. To us it is accom- 
plished in the death and atonement of Christ. There- 
fore we can see the gospel of Christ in these 
offerings, just as we can see Christian holiness in the 
laws for holiness and Christian enjoyment in the 
feasts. 

The order in which the ceremonial part of the 
Pentateuch should be studied is that in which it is 
given. Exodus closes with the Tabernacle erected, 
Leviticus gives next the offerings, the consecration of 



206 The Bible As It Is 

the priests, the laws of holiness and the feasts. This 
then is the order of study: i. The place of worship, 
the Tabernacle. 2. The offerings. 3. The Priests. 
4. The laws of holiness. 5. The Feasts. Alliter- 
atively the whole may be summarized in four words, 
Sanctuary, Sacrifice, Separation, Satisfaction. This 
will also be found to be a summary of the gospel of 
Christ. We are to seek nearness to God by the 
atonement of Christ, who is our holiness, and in Him 
we have the blessed life which is portrayed in the 
feasts. 

1. The Tabernacle. 

The Tabernacle was the residence of Jehovah 
among the people. It was not a meeting-house for 
the people as our churches are, for it was a very 
small building, and only the priests were allowed to 
enter. It was a meeting-place of the people through 
their priests with Jehovah. The people sometimes 
met at the door of the Tabernacle on occasions of 
solemnity or national importance. 

The following diagram gives the ground plan of the 
Tabernacle. 

It was a tent-shaped structure made of boards and 
curtains and surrounded with a fence of curtains. 
The whole enclosure was seventy-five feet wide by 
one hundred and fifty long. The Tabernacle itself 
was about fifteen by forty-five feet. It was divided 
into two parts, one fifteen by thirty feet called the 
Holy Place, and the other and inner apartment a per- 



The Ceremonial Law 



207 



WcSlEnd,.7Sft. 70 pillars 



-o-*-<> 



/5V*.. 



% 

i 

4 



ft-r 




Crout$«Plah of Court of Tabernacle. 



2o8 The Bible As It Is 

feet cube of ten cubits or fifteen feet. This was 
called the Holy of Holies or Holiest, or sometimes 
the Sanctuary, though this name was also sometimes 
given to the whole Tabernacle. It was this smaller, 
inner apartment which was the presence chamber of 
Jehovah. It contained only the ark, and the 
cherubim upon it. The ark was a small chest covered 
by a lid on which stood the figures of two angelic 
beings made of gold, bending over it in reverence 
with extended wings. 

In the ark were the two tables of stone containing 
the Ten Commandments engraven upon them. 
Aaron's rod was afterwards placed within it and a 
pot of the manna. As we have before seen it was 
upon this law that the cherubim looked down with 
reverence. It was upon the lid of this ark contain- 
ing this law that the presence of Jehovah was mani- 
fested in brightness, as the Jews say, and so we have 
every reason to believe. It was upon the lid of the 
ark containing the law, and just over it, that the blood 
of the greatest sacrifice of the year was sprinkled on 
the Day of Atonement. It was called the Mercy 
Seat, that is the place where Jehovah received the 
offering of the sacrifice and gave mercy or forgive- 
ness and blessing. 

The law was thus the centre of the whole Taber- 
nacle and consequently of the whole religious system 
of Israel; so that, not only the whole law centred 
about the decalogue, but also the whole ceremonial 
system. It was from this Mercy Seat that the whole 



The Ceremonial Law 209 

of Leviticus was spoken to Moses. It was on the 
basis of this law and its requirements that the whole 
ceremonial ritual rested. The law represented the 
perfect holiness one must have who approached Je- 
hovah, and, as none .had that holiness, the sprinkled 
blood was the only plea or ground of acceptance that 
Jehovah would receive. 

The other parts and articles of the Tabernacle were 
all secondary and auxiliary to this central part and 
its meaning. The altar of sacrifice at the door of 
the Tabernacle in the outer court showed the sacrifice 
necessary to offer in order to enter; the laver, the 
cleansing also necessary before offering; the table 
of shew bread, the sacred food of one so entering ; 
the candlestick or lampstand, the type of the life of 
such ; the altar of incense, the prayer and praise with 
which one should approach Jehovah. The whole had 
one great lesson, the holiness of Jehovah and conse- 
quently the holiness required of those who approached 
Him in worship. 

The Tabernacle as a whole and in all its parts is 
the most remarkable type of Christ in the Bible. 
When we consider that it was shown to Moses in a 
vision and the particulars of its construction accu- 
rately and minutely directed by God, we must believe 
that it was deeply significant. The epistle to the 
Hebrews especially dwells upon this typical use of the 
Tabernacle, the high priesthood and the mediatorial 
work of Christ. As the Tabernacle was the dwelling- 
place of God among Israel, so Christ was the dwelling- 



210 The Bible As It Is 

place of God on earth (John i : 14). The Holy of 
Holies, especially the Mercy Seat, the lid of the ark, 
was the meeting-place of mercy and justice. Thus 
Christ is our propitiation or mercy-seat (Rom. 3 : 25 ; 
1 John 2 : 2). The rent veil at His death (Matt. 
2 7 : 5 I ) typified His flesh (Heb. 10:20). The 
High Priest entering with the blood of the sacrifice 
shadowed forth Christ entering Heaven with His own 
blood, for the same purpose of making propitiation for 
His people's sin. 

This was the culminating act in the Tabernacle 
service; but every part was significant. The altar of 
sacrifice was the cross; the laver, the sanctifying 
work of the Spirit ; the altar of incense, the daily 
work of intercession by Christ ; the shew bread, the 
flesh or word of Christ; the candlestick, the Church 
kept in the true light by Christ (Rev. 1 : 12, 13, 20). 
The heavenly privileges of the believer are repre- 
sented by the pot of manna (Rev. 2: 17). The 
gospel was thus preached to that early age in object 
lessons and pictures. Few of the people could read, 
there were few books and our Christian terms could 
not have been understood. Doubtless the spiritually 
minded understood, but it required study. This ex- 
plains the frequent references to meditation on the 
law and delight in it expressed in the psalms and 
other devotional writings. 

2. The Offerings. 
The offerings were of many kinds. There were, 



The Ceremonial Law 211 

however, five principal elementary offerings. These 
singly or in combination formed the greater part of 
the ritual of the Tabernacle. They are found in 
Leviticus in order (Chs. 1-7). The burnt-offering, the 
meal-offering, the peace-offering, the sin-offering, the 
trespass-offering. With these God represented Him- 
self as surrounded. The diagram represents them 
thus arranged : 




The diagram is to be read first as given in the 
order in Leviticus, from the centre outward, and 
afterwards from the outside inward. We are first to 
see Christ in the offerings and then to see the way of 
salvation in them. Read from the centre outward, 
we see Christ in the offerings, as coming down from 
God for man's salvation. Read from the outside in- 
ward, we see man approaching God in the way made 
by Christ in His death as typified in the offerings. 
Looking at them in the first order named, we take 
them up as follows : 



212 The Bible As It Is 

i. The burnt-offering was wholly burnt up. It 
represents Christ in perfect consecration to the Father 
and so giving Himself to Him to do His will (Ps. 
40 : 6-8 ; Phil. 2 : 6-8). The greatest motive of 
Christ was to do the will of the Father ; so He said 
again and again. 

2. The meal-offering was the next. It is called 
the meat-offering from the old use of the word meat as 
indicating food. " Meal " is better and expresses the 
true meaning. The meal offering expresses Christ's 
perfect devotion in the sacrifice of incarnation (John 
1 2 : 24). It is the sacrifice of service. It looks to the 
preaching of the word. It was to be anointed with 
oil, the type of the Holy Spirit, the anointing of 
which gave Christ His name, Christ the anointed one. 
It had frankincense offered with it, the type of grace 
and favor. It had also salt, the type of purity and 
pungency and fidelity. It was to have no leaven, 
the type of evil ; nor honey, the type of human grati- 
fication (Prov. 25 : 27). A little was offered on the 
altar, the rest eaten by Aaron and his sons. Christ's 
words were for man. 

3. The peace-offering. Part of this was burnt 
upon the altar, part was eaten by the offerer, and part 
by the priest. It represents Christ entering into fel- 
lowship and identity with man (Heb. 4 : 15) by which 
He could effect His mediatorial work. Being already 
in identity with God, He was a partaker of both na- 
tures, and so fit to be man's representative as well as 
God's. 



The Ceremonial Law 2I 3 

4. The sin-offering. This was burned without the 
camp, and represents the work upon the cross, Calvary- 
being outside of the city gates. On the cross Christ 
was " made sin for us M (2 Cor. 5 : 21). 

Atonement is the great word in Leviticus. It oc- 
curs fifty times. On the day of atonement occurred 
the great presentation of this sin-offering. It is this 
that the writer of Hebrews has in mind. The blood 
of this offering typifies the blood of Christ that He 
carries into heaven for us. 

The meaning of this offering or sacrifice involved 
several ideas. 

(1) Substitution. The animal was given in place 
of the offerer. He identified himself with it by pla- 
cing his hand on its head. 

(2) Imputation. The offerer's guilt or righteous- 
ness was imputed to the offering. It was held ac- 
countable for whatever of sin was charged to the 
person offering it. 

(3) Retribution. The penalty deserved by the 
guilty was visited upon the victim. It was death ; 
the animal was slain. The penalty of sin against the 
holy God was death. The blood shed was the evi- 
dence of that. It was life for life. Blood is life, 
therefore blood shed was life given up. 

(4) Satisfaction. Not satisfaction as the word is 
used conversationally, but in the judicial sense. Jus- 
tice was satisfied in the penalty visited upon the 
victim, that is in its death. 

(5) Propitiation. Justice having been satisfied, 



214 The Bible As It Is 

there is propitiation made. There are no longer 
claims against the guilty. The same word is applied 
to the Mercy Seat. It is a Propitiation because 
there the claims are satisfied which prevented 
mercy, and now favor can be shown, as to an in- 
nocent person. 

(6) Atonement. The result of the offering is that 
the sinner and God are now at one. God is recon- 
ciled and the sinner is accepted. 

These are the fundamental ideas of the sacrifice, 
and these are the principles of the redemption of 
Christ. These principles are all applied to Christ's 
sacrifice in the New Testament both by Christ and 
His apostles. What Christ is to us, and what the 
meaning of His cross is to us, these sacrifices were to 
the Israelite. It is not to be supposed that each offerer 
knew the spiritual meaning. Some did, but the fact 
of their not knowing does not detract from the impor- 
tance of the intended lessons. 

5. The trespass-offering. This was offered as 
needed. It represents Christ in daily intercession; 
as our constant advocate (1 John 2:1; Rom. 8 : 34). 

The first three of these offerings are called " sweet 
savor M offerings, the last two are not. That is in the 
first three Christ is personally in contact with God, 
but in the last two, the sin and trespass offerings, He 
touches sin and therefore He bears our guilt. There 
is no sweet savor in sin or anything that it touches. 
Here Christ is made sin for us ; He bears our blame 
and disgrace. 



The Ceremonial Law 215 

The sum of the offerings is Christ. Together they 
present His perfect work for us. We can understand 
how one like David in that day could meditate upon 
the law day and night, having glimpses of this Com- 
ing One revealed to him in it. 

We must now read the offerings from the outside 
inward. We must see our path along them to God. 
We begin at the outermost. We first in conviction 
think of our trespasses ; we therefore want Christ as 
our forgiveness. We next think of Sin as something 
deeper than mere acts, and realize our need of cleans- 
ing ; we want ourselves made right as well as our sins 
forgiven. This leads us to Christ as our sin-offering. 
Then we have fellowship with God through Christ. 
This is Christ in the peace-offering (Rom. 5 : 1). 
Then we may enter His service and we may eat of 
Him as in the meal-offering. The consecration of the 
burnt-offering is the greatest. Few reach it at once. 
It is the place where in Christ we give ourselves 
wholly to God (Rom. 12 : 1). 

There are several grades of offerings. The ox was 
the princely offering, the sheep or goat the common 
offering, the dove or young pigeon the poor man's 
offering, and the barley cake that of the very poor. 
These represent different degrees of apprehension of 
Christ. Some see in Christ all His offices, like the 
prince, they see His kingly rule and power ; others 
take the more common evangelical view of Christ as 
Redeemer ; others have only a faint idea of the work 
of Christ, but have true faith ; others still only know 



2i6 The Bible As It Is 

that Christ is able to save, though how or why they 
know not, but have faith, nevertheless. 

3. The Priests. 

The persons set apart to carry out this law form an 
important part of study. The whole tribe of Levi 
was chosen of God for the service of the Tabernacle 
and from among them the family of Aaron to serve as 
priests. The Levites had charge of the Tabernacle. 
They had no one place of abode in Israel, but had 
houses in the various tribes. This fulfilled the 
prophecy of their father Jacob, "I will scatter them in 
Israel/ ' but turned the curse into a blessing (Gen. 
49 : 7). They had charge of the Tabernacle, the 
service of song and other parts of the worship. 

The priesthood was to remain in the family of 
Aaron. Formerly the eldest or father of the family 
offered sacrifices, and the word priest has the meaning 
of presbyter or elder. The priests were to offer sacri- 
fices and conduct the services on the days of special 
holiness and on feast days; and, in the journey 
through the wilderness, were to carry the ark and 
vessels of the Tabernacle. They also acted as a court 
to decide special cases (Deut. 17 : 8-13). They were 
supported by tithes; and served in courses. The 
great service of the year was on the day of atonement, 
when the high priest entered the Holy of Holies and 
made intercession for the nation. 

In Hebrews Aaron, the high priest, is compared and 
contrasted with Christ. The High Priest was a type of 



The Ceremonial Law 217 

Christ in being appointed of God, in offering a sacrifice, 
in entering the presence of God, and in securing atone- 
ment. Christ was unlike Aaron in that He was not of his 
tribe or family ; that He administered a better covenant ; 
that He did not offer the blood of an animal, but His 
own ; that He did not enter an earthly tabernacle, but a 
heavenly one ; that He did not make an imperfect atone- 
ment, but a perfect one ; and that His atonement was 
not temporary in its effect, but permanent (Heb. 5-10). 

Because of these incomplete resemblances, and be- 
cause Aaron was an Israelitish priest only and Christ 
had a world-wide work of atonement to perform, 
another type is added to His priesthood. Melchis- 
edek is chosen as this type. He was long before Aaron 
or the law, and had no predecessors or successors, was 
from the world peoples and was a King as well as a 
priest. These are some of the qualities to be seen in 
Christ's priesthood that are wanting in Aaron's. 

Aaron, however, represents the believer. He is 
"a spiritual house, a royal priesthood, to offer up 
spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus 
Christ." As Israel was a national priest among the 
nations to serve God, to administer the worship of 
God, and to teach the nations ; so the believer is in the 
world, so the Church is in the world. The believer is 
called the Temple, the Sanctuary; the believer's 
body being a Holy of Holies in which God dwells by 
the Holy Ghost, as in the Tabernacle the presence of 
God dwelt (1 Cor. 6:19; 2 Cor. 6: 16; 1 Cor. 
3 : 16, 17 ; Eph. 2 : 20-22). 



218 The Bible As It Is 

4. The Laws of Holiness. 
These are laws which are distinguished from the 
moral laws because they commanded or forbade things 
not in themselves ethical, as for example the absti- 
nence from certain kinds of food, the wearing of cer- 
tain kinds of clothing, and the following of certain 
ways of cutting the hair. Some of these laws have 
no reasons for them stated ; but all had reasons, and 
important ones for their enactment. 

1 . Some of these laws were sanitary and hygienic 
in effect ; as the law regarding washing after touching 
a dead body, the law of the cleansing of the leper, 
the laws respecting the use of certain kinds of food 
and the disposal of offal. 

2. Some had great symbolic teachings. God 
taught the people spiritual holiness by laws of phys- 
ical cleanliness, as we would teach children by the use 
of the same illustrations. The leper was a type of 
the sinner. Leprosy was treated like a sin. There 
were ceremonies connected with it of no hygienic 
use, but purely symbolic (Lev. 14, 15). These held o . 

up this disease as a type of sin in its inheritan ce, its v/ * y« 
effects, and its incurableness by any human effort. V%J^ * t 
This the psalmist had in mind when, referring to this, ^j^Z^J 
he says, " Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean " , ?v _- 
(Ps. 51: 7). /A^x^/ 

3. Separation was one great purpose of these laws. 
Most of the things forbidden were customs of the 
heathen and the use of these things would lead the 
Israelites into fellowship with them. Their disuse 



? 



The Ceremonial Law 219 

would erect a barrier between the two. Therefore 
these laws were made. Such laws were those forbid- 
ding the marking of the body by heathen rites, or the 
placing of names of heathen deities upon one. In- 
stead they were to place the law upon their foreheads. 
Such laws also were those regarding the cutting of the 
hair and the sowing of mingled seeds. 

4. Some were laws of propriety, as those forbid- 
ding a man to wear a woman's clothing or a woman, 
the clothes of a man. 

All these laws were based on the fact that they were 
Jehovah's chosen people, sacred and separated from 
the rest of the world. 

There is, however, in these a great spiritual lesson. 
The Christian is still under such laws. There are 
certain things that he is not to touch and certain peo- 
ple that he is not to mingle with (2 Cor. 6: 17). 
There are things he is not to eat or drink (Rom. 
14: 1-23). His abstinence is for the sake of others. 
"It is good not to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor to 
do anything whereby thy brother stumbleth'' (Rom. 
14: 21). This is the Biblical ground of temperance. 
A further reason for temperance is this, "Ye cannot 
drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils'' 
(1 Cor. 10 : 21). This latter certainly applies to in- 
toxicating drinks in our days. A further motive is 
offered in this text, "Give no occasion of stumbling 
either to Jews or to Greeks or to the Church of God " 
(1 Cor. 10 : 32). A further and broader principle is 
given in these words, "Whether therefore ye eat or 



220 The Bible As It Is 

drink or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of 
God" (i Cor. 10: 31). All these look outside of 
the person himself. There is also regard for oneself 
to be considered. " Your body is a temple of the 
Holy Ghost" (1 Cor. 6: 12-20). Here is the same 
principle that was given to Israel, the sanctity of 
themselves as God's chosen people. 

We find, then, that the same principles underlie the 
Israelitish code and the Christian code. The differ- 
ence being that the one consists of a long list of cer- 
tain acts prohibited, and the other is an enumeration 
of certain principles applying to all acts. Now, as the 
conditions have changed since Israel's time, as in the 
case of food offered to idols and in the coming in of 
many habits and amusements unknown to Israel, we 
see why God has given us principles rather than rules 
for life. The principles live in the heart and are a 
permanent motive ; the prohibition of acts can be only 
temporary and local. 

These are the great differences between the Old 
Testament and the New Testament teachings. We have 
no prescribed list of acts right and wrong, but we have 
certain principles which enable one with a right mind 
and the spirit of Christ to determine for himself what 
is right and what wrong. The Church has the right 
to say what its members shall or shall not do ; so we 
find the Council at Jerusalem prescribing to the young 
gentile Churches what they were to avoid (Acts 
15 : 19, 20). 



The Ceremonial Law 221 

5. The Feasts. 

The calendar of the Israelite was laid out on the 
number seven; thus we have the seventh day, the 
seventh month, the seventh year and the seventh 
seventh or fiftieth year — the year of jubilee. Every 
year there were three great festivals and one great fast 
day ; seven festivals and one fast in all. Nothing could 
better express the happy purpose of Jehovah in this peo- 
ple than this fact. The whole course of the year was 
designed to be a course of sacred joy ; their religion 
was to be a happy one and their pleasures sacred. 

1. The germ of all was the Sabbath. This was a 
reenactment of the existing Sabbath (Ex. 16: 26). 
The word " remember M in the Fourth Commandment 
recites this fact. The Sabbath was observed before 
the time of Moses and by other nations. It was in- 
stituted at creation (Gen. 2 : 2, 3). The reasons an- 
nexed to the various commands about the Sabbath are 
that the people may rest, with their servants and cat- 
tle and strangers after the example of God (Ex. 20 : 
8-1 1) ; that they may remember their deliverance 
from Egypt (Deut. 5 : 15) ; and that it may be a sign 
between them and Jehovah (Ex. 31 : 13), a perpetual 
covenant (16), a holy convocation (Lev. 23 : 3). 
Thus the idea of the Sabbath is first rest, then com- 
memoration, then consecration and worship. 

These are the ideas of the Lord's Day that we ob- 
serve. While there is no command to change to the 
first day of the week there is scripture warrant. First 
the Sabbath was a shadow and the substance has 



222 The Bible As It Is 

come in Christ (Col. 2: 16, 17). The command is 
observed by keeping one day in seven. It is "six 
days shalt thou labor and do all thy work, but the 
seventh is the Sabbath/ ' Six days' work and then a 
day of rest. This the Lord's Day gives. 

There is a pointing to the Lord's Day in the men- 
tion of the eighth day (Lev. 23 : 39), especially the 
offering of the first-fruits on "the morrow after the 
Sabbath," which was the prophecy of the resurrection 
of Christ as "the first-fruits of them that slept" 
(1 Cor. 15 : 20). The example of Christ, in meeting 
with His disciples, their custom to meet for break- 
ing bread, that is the Lord's Supper, and the state of 
John in Patmos, "in the Spirit on the Lord's day," 
warrant us in keeping this day and dropping the Jew- 
ish Sabbath, which in spirit is kept on the Lord's 
Day. 

If one day in the week is to be kept sacred it must 
be a uniform custom, else there cannot be that use of 
it that we need. Confusion would come from every 
one having his own day. Luther said, " I believe that 
the apostles transferred the Sabbath to Sunday, 
otherwise no man would have been so audacious as 
to dare do it." Another has said, "Take away the 
day of rest and there is no worship ; no worship, no 
religion ; no religion, no morals ; no morals, then — 
pandemonium." Such a day of rest was embodied 
in the moral and not in the ceremonial law to give it 
the greater validity. 

2. The new moon or the first day of each month 



The Ceremonial Law 223 

was a sacred day. It was celebrated by the blowing 
of trumpets, the offering of sacrifices, and the 
solemnities of the Sabbath. In the seventh month its 
observance was especially marked. 

3. The three great annual feasts were the Pass- 
over celebrated at the beginning of the year, Pente- 
cost coming when the wheat harvest was ripe, and the 
Feast of Tabernacles held in the fall; the latter was 
the harvest home of Israel, when they dwelt in booths 
for a week. The Passover has already been spoken 
of. It commemorated the nation's deliverance. It 
was its national anniversary. Pentecost, meaning 
" fiftieth/ ' was held fifty days from the gathering of 
the first ripe sheaf, the " first-fruits." Two leavened 
loaves were presented to the Lord. This was a 
prophetic feast. It was fifty days after Christ rose 
from the dead, "the first-fruits of them that slept," 
that the Holy Ghost came upon the disciples. The 
two loaves were typical of the Jewish and gentile 
churches. The feast of ingathering or Tabernacles 
was preceded by the Day of Atonement, by which 
they were prepared for that joyous time. It has a 
prophetic meaning also in the harvest to come and the 
millennial era to follow (Rev. 14: 14-20). 

The Seventh Year feast was the leaving of the 
fields fallow and only gathering what grew of itself. 
It was the violation of this that fixed the time of the 
Babylonian captivity at seventy years (2 Chron. 
36: 21). 

The Jubilee was the climax of all the festivals and 



224 The Bible As It Is 

of all the nation's calendar. Then servants were 
freed, all debts paid, all homesteads returned, all at 
rest. When Christ preached His first sermon He 
took for His text the prophetic cry of the jubilee year, 
the climax of Israel's great system (Luke 4: 18). 
He proclaimed spiritually all that the jubilee gave 
literally. It was probably on the very anniversary of 
the jubilee that this sermon was preached. The four 
things given by the jubilee were alliteratively : liberty, 
land, liquidation and leisure. Prison doors were 
opened ; homesteads restored ; debts canceled ; rest 
given. So in Christ we have release from the penalty 
of sin, restoration to the place of our inheritance, for- 
giveness of sins, and rest in Christ. As all of Israel's 
history, this is also an allegory worked out in the actual 
history of a soul's experience. It has been jubilee 
time ever since Christ preached that great sermon. 

Spiritual Lessons from the Law. 
The New Testament lessons from the study of the 
law are as follows : 

1. All are guilty before this law. The parts of 
the law are one. The New Testament does not 
make a distinction between the moral and ceremonial 
law. It is one law, and when it refers to the law it 
means all the law (Jas. 2 : 10 ; Rom. 2:19, 20). 

2. Christ taught that the law prophesied of Him, 
and that He fulfilled these prophecies and types 
(Matt. 5 : 17; Luke 24: 27, 44). "That it might 
be fulfilled " is written as a reason for much that He 



The Ceremonial Law 225 

did and said. He obeyed its precepts and lived the 
life that it commanded (Matt. 3:15). Its righteous- 
ness was fulfilled in Him in its spiritual and ethical 
meaning (John. 8:46). He fulfilled its ceremonial 
acts (Luke 2 : 21-24). He is the fulfilment of its civil 
and social state spiritually. 

3. The apostles taught Christ from the law (John 
1 : 45) ; see Epistle to Hebrews. They taught the 
insufficiency of the law in itself. 1. To give for- 
giveness (Acts 13: 38). 2. To justify (Rom 3: 20; 
Gal. 2: 16). 3. To give holiness or peace (Rom. 
8:3). 4. It is not a rule of life to the believer " in 
Christ " (Acts 15 : 1, 28, 29; Rom. 6: 14; 7:4; 
Gal. 3 : 23-26 ; Col. 2 : 14-23). 

4. Christ satisfied the demands of the law against 
us (Gal. 3: 13), and put it out of the way (Col. 
2 : 14 ; John 1 : 17). This does not degrade the law 
(Rom. 3 : 31) ; nor lead to sin (Rom. 6 : i, 15). 

5. The Christian is in a higher state of grace 
(Gal. 3:23-29; 4; 5: 1-6), and thus under a 
higher law; he is a son and not a servant; under 
grace and not under law. 

6. The present use of the law is to manifest the 
righteousness of God in Christ (Rom. 3:21); to 
make sin apparent (Rom. 5 : 20) ; to restrain trans- 
gression (Gal. 3 : 19 ; 1 Tim. 1 : 9-1 1) ; to convict of 
sin (Rom. 7 : 7, 8) ; to judge the sinner at the last 
day (Rom. 2:12; John 5 : 45 ; Rev. 20 : 12). 

7. The offerings, as we have seen, all point to 
Christ. 



226 The Bible As It Is 

8. The laws of holiness are typical of the Christian 
life. 

9. The feasts are to have their fulfilment in the 
kingdom of heaven. They all point to that (Luke 
4: 17-19; Ps. 72; Ezek. 40-48). 



CHAPTER XIV 

JOSHUA AND THE CONQUEST 

With Joshua we take up the story of the Chosen 
People taking possession of the Land covenanted by 
Jehovah to their ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob 
and to themselves. To this they had looked forward 
for four centuries. It had cheered them in their toil 
in the brickyards of Egypt and been their goal all 
through their march in the wilderness. This great 
end they had failed of securing at Kadesh-Barnea by 
their unbelief and disobedience and now once more 
they are at the gate of their long desired home. But 
great enemies possess it and it must be fought for. 
The contest forms the subject now before us. 

The book of Joshua has four divisions. 

I. Preparation for the War. Chs. 1-5. 

Charge to Joshua, 1. The Spies, 2. Directions 
for Crossing Jordan, 3. The Crossing, 4. 
Circumcision of the People and the Vision, 5. 

II. The War of Conquest. 6-12. 

Capture of Jericho, 6. Sin of Achan, 7. Battle 
of Ai. The Blessings and Cursings, 8. The 
Gibeonites, 9. Battle of Gibeon and Conqest 
of the South, 10. Battle of Merom and Con- 
qest of the North, n. List of Conquests, 12. 
227 



228 The Bible As It Is 

III. Division of the Land, 13-22 

The Two and Half Tribes, 13. Caleb's Choice, 
14. Judah's Portion, 15. Manasseh and Eph- 
raim's Portion, 16-17. Remaining Tribes, 18- 
19. Cities of Refuge, 20. Levite Cities, 21. 
Departure of Trans- Jordanic Tribes, 22. 

IV. Joshua's Farewell, 23-24. 

To The Elders, etc., 23. To Israel. Writes his 
Records. Death and Burial, 24. 

Besides the general outline there are special points 
for study, preliminary to the history. The state of 
the nation and also of the land and its inhabitants 
are to be considered. 

1. The Nation. 

They were a race young and trained by the wilder- 
ness journey. All over twenty years of age had fal- 
len in the wilderness as foretold by Jehovah as the 
penalty of their disobedience at the first offer of the 
land at Kadesh. They had been fused into a nation 
by their isolation, the wilderness life, and the teach- 
ing of Moses. They were far in advance of the 
fugitive host that fled from Egypt. Several great vic- 
tories had given them confidence in themselves and 
their leader and their Jehovah. They must not be 
considered, however, as a modern disciplined army 
but as an aggregation of pastoral tribes. 



Joshua and the Conquest 229 

2. The Leader. 

The conquest of the regions east of the Jordan was 
made under Moses. Sixty cities there fell into iJie 
possession of Israel. These regions were allotted to 
the two and half tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh 
who were sworn to send their armed men with Israel 
to the conquest of the rest of the territory. The leader 
appointed for this task was Joshua. He with Caleb 
were the two faithful ones over the age of twenty who 
were premitted to survive and enter Canaan. He was 
Moses' personal attendant and trained under his own 
care. He was appointed by Jehovah and given the 
special charge, "Be strong and of a good courage/' 
several times repeated. He was also given 'a Vision 
of Jehovah as Captain leading the army. He was 
promised complete success and victory. Judah the 
Messianic tribe was to go first. 

3. The Land. 

Canaan was well known to Israel. It was not far 
from their residence in Egypt. It was the home of 
their progenitors. It was connected with Egypt by 
many ties. Egyptians owned estates there and there 
was constant intercourse by travel and correspond- 
ence. Indeed some Israelites made raids into the 
land while in Egypt (1 Chron. 7:21). The inhabit- 
ants of Canaan were divided into several tribes fre- 
quently at war with each other and at this time with- 
out the control and aid of the powerful kingdoms of 



230 The Bible As It Is 

Egypt on the one hand and Assyria on the other to 
whom at prior times they were held in subjection. 
This made the task of conquest easier than if Israel 
had the great Assyrian or Egyptian powers to deal with. 
However they had no small task before them. The 
number of the Canaanites were great. They had 
walled cities. Some were tribes of gigantic stature. 
They had chariots of iron and suits of armor. When 
united as at the close of the campaign they presented 
a force of vast numbers and formidable armament. 
They were however at this time in a state of terror. 
The news of the strange people and their deliverance 
had preceded them. The plagues of Egypt God had 
said were ordered that his name and glory might be 
declared through the earth and all lands had heard of 
them. The wilderness journey, the pillar of cloud, 
the wonders of Mt. Sinai, all had been heard of and 
now like an impending judgment the host of Israel 
was at their doors. 

4. The Crossing of the Jordan. 

The conquest of the trans- Jordan regions brought 
them to the banks of that river at that time at full 
flood. It was and is a tortuous stream that flowed 
through a gorge of 600 feet and twisted through 200 
miles of channel to make 60 miles of progress. To 
cross this with their herds of cattle in face of an armed 
foe was a hazardous task. That it seemed impossible 
to the nations of Canaan appears from the fact that 



Joshua and the Conquest 231 

no steps of defence or opposition were taken. To 
Israel Jordan was their Rubicon. It put an impassable 
barrier between them and retreat. 

Practical preparations were at once begun by Joshua. 
Spies were sent out to see the lay of the land and the 
state of the enemy. The adventures of these give 
us the well known story of Rahab. After their 
departure an order is issued for a three days' provision 
of victuals for within that time they were to cross the 
Jordan. They w r ere to " sanctify themselves,"' that is, 
to -put away all ceremonial and other uncleanness. 
The order of march was arranged. The ark borne by 
the priests went first and as they touched Jordan its 
waters passed away and the passage was left dry. The 
priests w r ith the ark stood in the bed of the river and 
the people passed over before them, the armed men 
first. A memorial of twelve stones taken from the 
river bed where the priests stood with the ark was made 
to testify in days to come when any disputed the truth 
of the event. It has been needed for the account is 
one disputed to-day. It was, as are most such ac- 
counts, a union of the natural and supernatural, or 
rather a directing of natural causes to certain effects 
at certain times. The river was undoubtedly gorged 
at some point above the crossing and in consequence 
ran dry. The point was a suitable one. The river 
is narrow and its banks steep. Any case which would 
stop its waters would fill all the requirements of the 
narrative. The bed of the Jordan shows that it has 



232 The Bible As It Is 

changed its level several times. It was once thirty 
feet higher than at present. Dr. George Frederick 
Wright has found geologic evidence of the elevation 
of the bed of the river a mile or two from the crossing 
and the return again to its present level. Such a tem- 
porary elevation would have caused the dry crossing 
described in the account. 



5. The War of Conquest, 
chapters 5-12. 

The whole war may be divided into three cam- 
paigns ; the conquest of the trans- Jordan region called 
Gilead already mentioned made under Moses, and 
the subjugation of the land of Canaan proper in two 
campaigns of the north and the south. The perma- 
nent camp was fixed at Gilgal where they crossed the 
Jordan. Here they left their families and flocks and 
from this went out to the battles of the conquest. 
Here also a preparatory observance of the Passover 
was held and Circumcision performed which had been 
neglected during the wilderness journey. 

The two campaigns of Canaan proper may be 
arranged around the four great battles that are 
described; three battles in the conquest of south 
Canaan, the battle of Jericho, 6-7, the battle of Ai, 
8-9, and the battle of Gibeon, 10. The conquest of 
north Canaan was accomplished in one great battle 



Joshua and the Conquest 233 

with the confederated nations of Canaan, the battle of 
Merom, 11. The capture of Jericho is well known. 
The fall of its walls on the seventh encircling by the 
army was a miracle. Such events need no explana- 
tion to a Reliever in God and the supernatural. Nor 
may we say how much the natural enters into such 
events until we better understand the mysterious 
forces of nature. The trotting of a dog will cause a 
great iron bridge to shake. The vibrations caused 
by a violin we are told would if continued cause the 
tallest tower to move. It is senseless and unscien- 
tific to object to miracles simply because they lie out- 
side of our limited field of observation. For similar 
reasons the African savage might decline to believe 
in freezing of water or the telephone. 

The fall of Jericho struck terror into the Canaanites 
and gave Israel the key to the land. The battle at 
Ai was a wholesale check in its temporary defeat to 
Israel tempted to presumption and to follow the sin 
of Achan. Israel had also to be taught to use their 
own skill and not to depend infant fashion on super- 
natural resources. The battle of Gibeon was caused 
by the city of Gibeon who got a treaty from Joshua 
by stratagem and were made tributaries. They were 
attacked by the king of Jerusalem and confederate 
tribes for this. Their call was the occasion of Joshua 
attacking the enemy and, assisted by a fearful hail- 
storm which destroyed more than the sword, he won 
a mighty victory. It was in this battle occurred the 



234 The Bible As It Is 

miracle of " Joshua's long day" so called, when the 
sun stayed in its course. This was not impossible to 
Him who made the sun and stars. He who conducts 
the universe could check the movements of the world 
as easily as an engineer can control the movements of 
his train. These three battles gave Israel an open 
door to the land. A succession of invasions brought 
the whole of the southern part of Canaan into their 
power and possession. 

The nations of the northern part were now awak- 
ened to their danger and aroused from the paralysis 
of fear that at first seized them. The result was a 
confederation of the nations of the north. It was the 
supreme effort of the Canaanites and the greatest 
battle fought by Israel. The number of the enemy 
is described as the "sand of the sea," with " chariots 
and horses very many." Israel was now a nation of 
veteran warriors. They were inspired by continuous 
victory. A sudden attack gave them victory. "The 
waters of Merom," became a subject of song ever 
after. There came into the Canaanites a hardness 
and desperate resistance that forbade any terms of 
surrender. The terrific nature of the attack and 
rout is seen, as well as the truth of the narrative, in 
the inscription left by the fugitives who fled as far as 
Algiers and left two monuments with the inscription 
"We are those who fled from Joshua the robber." 
(Giekie's Hours with the Bible. 2.409.) 



Joshua and the Conquest 235 

6. The Destruction of the Canaanites. 
The fate of the Canaanites is one of the objections 
some raise to the Bible. It was partial extermination 
although some were spared and remained among the 
Israelites and retained their possessions and even 
their independence. But the narration tells us of 
whole cities all of whom were slain. Such was war 
in those days where the battle resolved itself into a 
series of personal combats in which one and sometimes 
both of the antagonists were slain. In the case of the 
Canaanites the destruction of these peoples was by 
command of God. This seems to add to the perplex- 
ity of the subject. We must at the outset of the whole 
study of religion and the Bible allow that God has the 
final disposal of human life by whatsoever means he 
chooses to select whether by the slow coming of age 
or the more rapid progress of disease or the swift 
destruction by the plague when thousands fall in a 
day. Nor may we ask God to give an account of 
His doings. He is sovereign. He is also just and 
infinitely merciful and we must in faith believe that the 
destruction of these peoples at this time was in accord- 
ance both with justice and mercy. The revelations 
of eternity alone will explain the full meaning of the 
whole story of sin and sorrow that afflicts humanity 
which God in his wisdom has permitted. But some 
considerations are given in their narrative that throw 
light upon this acting of divine judgment, for such it 
was as truly as if performed by storm or plague. 



236 The Bible As It Is 

1. The Canaanites were utterly and indescribably 
vile. That land was the plague spot of the world. 
Sodom was a typical city and its sins have given the 
name to unmentionable crime to-day. Paul describes 
such whether he had these people in mind or similar 
races everywhere and at all times. (Rom. 1:18-32.) 
The Bible story of Lot tells the everyday life, of that 
city and the race generally. (Gen. 19: 5-8). Even 
1500 years after this the spread of their vices to 
Rome, that city called "the sewer of the nations," 
was bewailed by the writers of the day as a calamity. 

2. They had also the most exalted religious privi- 
leges. Melchisedek, that being of such exalted char- 
acter that he was the type of Christ, was their king 
and priest. Abraham and his descendents while 
among them also gave example of a purer life. 

3. They were given ample time for repentance. 
The divine reason for sending Israel into Egypt for 
four centuries was, "the iniquity of the Amorites is 
not yet full." (Gen. 15:16.) The plagues of Egypt 
were intended to arouse these as well as all nations. 
Israel's year at Mt. Sinai was a year of possible salva- 
tion and repentance to these doomed people. The 
added thirty-nine years of wandering was further 
time and the halt at their doors while Israel waited 
at the Jordan was further days of grace. As stated 
the encircling seven times of the walls of Jericho was 
God's call by the trumpets to submission and mercy. 
The one that yielded, Rahab the harlot, with all her 



Joshua and the Conquest 237 

household were saved. It is clear that any others who 
would have sued for mercy could have had it. So 
also the Gibeonites although coming by subterfuge 
were spared. Not another nation asked for terms 
of mercy. There was a desperate state of hardened 
resistance that made destruction inevitable. 

4. The welfare of Israel as the hope of the world, the 
depository of divine revelation and the only light the 
world had, made their preservation from the contam- 
ination of these peoples absolutely necessary. To 
permit them to live in this physical and moral state 
was to permit contagion of the most ruinous kind to 
poison the fountain of mercy at its source. As it was, 
the remnants of the Canaanites who survived were 
the cause of Israel's frequent apostasy and the cause 
of their final overthrow by divine judgments. The 
world's salvation still depends on the purity of the 
church. The final judgments of earth will be sim- 
ply an enlargement of these judgments on impenitent 
and hardened mankind. The Seven Trumpets are 
found in the Apocalypse and the falling cities also. 

7. The Division of the Land. 

chapters 13-22. 
The boundaries of the region Israel was to possess 
at once had been described by Moses (Num. 34). 
This was not the full territory promised to Abraham 
and later conquered by David but was sufficient for 
their present needs. God had said he would not dis- 



238 The Bible As It Is 

possess the entire region lest the beasts of the field 
multiply in the vacant regions and become a menace 
as they are in such regions. (Ex. 23:29.) Two 
tribes Reuben and Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh 
had been provided for. 

Judah of the remaining tribes received its portion 
next. Its home seems to have been decided by the 
choice of Caleb of that tribe, the sole survivor of the 
Egyptian multitude. He makes special request for 
Hebron and is given that for his portion. The region 
of which it is the center becomes the allotment of 
Judah. That this was the divine purpose is seen 
from the facts that they are given Jerusalem and are 
the Messianic tribe. They were to survive to the 
close of the kingdom and Jerusalem was to remain 
until Christ came, and so they are placed at the ex- 
treme south far away from the enemies by whom the 
overthrow of the kingdom finally came. Ephraim and 
the rest of his brother Manasseh's tribe not accommo- 
dated on the east of Jordan are also given their portion. 
The Tabernacle had been set up at Shiloh within the 
limits of Ephraim's portion and this was undoubtedly 
the reason that Ephraim's portion was early settled. 
He had been promised superiority and Shiloh had 
been predicted as sacred and the gathering place of 
the tribes. (Gen. 48:19; 49:10.) Shechem however 
a few miles to the northwest where the blessings and 
cursings were pronounced became their capital city. 

Seven tribes remained for some time unalloted. 



Joshua and the Conquest 239 

The land was then divided into seven portions and 
these divided by lot. The Levites were given no 
allotment save cities for residence. This w r as a pen- 
alty for the sin of Levi (Gen. 49:11) but by their 
appointment to the service of the Tabernacle for their 
fidelity in the great apostasy in the wilderness (Ex. 
32:26-28; Num. 1 47-51), the curse was turned into 
a blessing. The cities of Refuge were allotted, Mt. 
Ephraim given to Joshua as his choice and the two 
and half trans- Jordan tribes dismissed to their homes. 

8. Joshua's Farewell, 
chapters 23-24. 
All that God had commanded Joshua to do had 
been accomplished. He had led Israel into the land, 
conquered their enemies and allotted the land to 
them. He had called them to the appointed place at 
Mountains Ebal and Gerizem and there read the bless- 
ings and curses as commanded and renewed the cove- 
nant. He judged Israel during the rest of his life 
and as his end approached, solicitous for their fidelity 
to God, called them together to the same place for his 
farewell charge. He exacted a solemn promise of 
them and set up a stone of memorial. He lived to 
the age of a hundred and ten and was buried in his 
chosen portion. 

Spiritual Lessons. 
1 . Canaan has sometimes been used as typical of 
Heaven, and Jordan of death. But not only is there 



240 The Bible As It Is 

no such application in Scriptures but much against 
it. Canaan is in no respect analagous to Heaven. 
There are no enemies there to be conquered and cer- 
tainly we shall not have to expel any such. Canaan 
is a type of the ideal Christian life and is so used in 
Hebrews (Ch. 4). There it is a type of Christ's vic- 
torious work. It is the Land of Rest, the Land of 
the Promises to which some have attained and all 
may attain. But alas, many like Israel spend their 
days in the Wilderness a life of unrest, of legality or 
like Israel of sinfulness and idolatry, God's worship 
neglected and under constant afflictive chastisements. 
For such to reach the place of Consecration and Faith 
in Christ is Canaan. "We which do believe do enter 
into rest" (Heb. 4:3). The three states in which 
Israel are seen represent respectively three states of 
Christian experience. Egypt is the believer under 
sin; the Wilderness, the believer under law; Canaan, 
the believer under Grace. The privileges of the be- 
liever are represented by the New Testament term "In 
Christ " where all spiritual blessings are (Ep. 1 : 4-14). 
2. Joshua is a type of Christ. Jesus and Joshua are 
the same name, the latter Hebrew the other Greek. 
The Son of God by command of God took the name, 
of all names that might be had of Israel's leader, be- 
because the work of Joshua is typical of the work of 
Christ. Moses represents the Law. The apostle 
Paul tells us the Law made nothing perfect. It can- 
not forgive, but only condemn. It cannot therefore 



Joshua and the Conquest 241 

save. It cannot make free but brings into bondage. 
It cannot bring us into Rest it condemns and does not 
save. It was temporary only and now has passed 
away being superseded by a higher law, that of faith, 
of grace and love. (See Rom. 3:20; Gal. 2:16; 
Rom. 8:3; Acts 13:39, etc.) Moses therefore as 
a type of the law was not permitted to bring Israel 
into Canaan. To be sure he was excluded for his 
own wrong (Nu. 20:12), but God always has further 
purposes in all his doings. This is the use of Joshua's 
work in Hebrews, fourth chapter. 

3. The allotment of the land to the several tribes and 
persons represents the possible range of attainment 
for the believer. There was much they had in com- 
mon. The state of rest, the food of Canaan, the 
worship and much else represent that " grace for 
grace " of Christ of w T hich each believer has an un- 
divided portion. But there are differences " accord- 
ing to the measure of faith given.' ' The rule of 
attainment is that given Israel " Every place that the 
sole of your foot shall tread upon," is the place of 
conquest. But it takes the whole body of believers 
to measure "the breadth and length and height and 
depth" of the possibilities of Christian attainment. 
And there is constant conflict also. While there was 
conquest there were Canaanites left as we shall see to 
test and keep awake Israel's vigilance. So the believer 
while in Christ has the world, the flesh and the devil, 
to watch against. 



242 The Bible As It Is 

4. The sad thought is suggested that there are many 
who like Israel fail at their Kadesh-Barnea and only 
after a wasted life like that of Israel's weary wilder- 
ness journey enter the state of rest and peace. Some 
may never enter. They fall in the wilderness. While 
they are not lost yet they have missed the Canaan 
experience of a life of faith and peace. 



CHAPTER XV 



THE JUDGES 



Joshua had no successor. The conquest of the 
allotted portions of the land was carried on by the 
separate tribes. None of them seem to have quite 
subjugated their entire territory. Even the citadel 
in Jerusalem was not taken until the time of David 
four hundred years after. There was no central 
government during this period. The Judges who 
were in power during this period were temporary mili- 
tary chieftains raised up to deliver the nation from 
some foreign foe and retained some judical authority 
during their lives. The state of affairs is well described 
by the words repeated many times "In those days 
there was no king in Israel and every man did that 
which was right in his own eyes." (17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 
21:25.) 

The spiritual state brought about their social con- 
dition. The book of Joshua closes with the statement 
that they served the Lord all the days of the elders 
that outlived Joshua. Then followed apostasy. They 
relaxed their military vigilance, came to terms of famil- 
iarity with their heathen neighbors, mingled with 
them in their sports and intermarried, and finally 
adopted their idolatry. This was followed by chas- 

243 



244 The Bible As It Is 

tisement mostly by foreign invasion and oppression. 
Then a deliverer was raised up called a Judge and 
the land had rest for a time. After this another 
apostasy followed and another chastisement and an- 
other deliverance. This cycle of events occurred six 
times. 

The social and spiritual state during the times of 
apostasy is described in the five closing chapters, 
which are out of place and describe conditions exist- 
ing at the beginning and perhaps all through this 
period. There idolatry is seen with lawlessness and 
internal war during which one tribe, Benjamin, was 
almost exterminated. The periods when, as stated 
"the land had rest," are well portrayed by the 
book of Ruth which belongs early in the time of the 
Judges. The place of worship where the Tabernacle 
was located was Shiloh. Here the priests were to be 
found and council asked of God. It must not be 
supposed that the whole Mosaic law or ritual was 
observed here or at any time perfectly. It was often 
for long periods almost wholly neglected, as indeed 
the commands of Christ are to-day. 

The book of Judges consists of three parts: (i) An 
introductory account of the conquests and failures of 
the tribes after the death of Joshua. Ch. 1-2. (2) The 
apostasies and deliverances by the Judges, 3-16. (3) 
Two narratives of the conditions of the times of the 
Judges, 17-21. The bulk of the book consists of the 
second period, the history of the apostasies and deliver- 



The Judges 



245 



ances each designated by the name of the Judge who 
delivered them. The intervening judges are of less im- 
portance and may be either omitted for further study 
or inserted as they occur. There were fourteen in 
all. The Six great Judges were Othniel, Ehud, 
Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah and Samson. The fol- 
lowing Table presents them in order. The first two 
chapters of the book are introductory and the last 
five chapters refer to this early time and should also 
be read here. 

CHART OF THE JUDGES 



Chap. 


Judge 


Oppressor 


Period 

of 
Rest" 


Succeeding 
Judges 


3 


Othniel 


Mesopotamia 8 yrs. 


40 yrs. 




3 


Ehud 


Moab 18 yrs. 


80 yrs. 


Shamgar 


4-5 


Deborah 


Canaanites 20 yrs. 


40 yrs 
[Ruth] 




6-8 


Gideon 40 yrs 


Midianites 7 yrs. 


40 yrs. 


Abimelech 3, 
Tola 23, Jair 22 


10-12 


Jephthah 


Philistines- Ammon ites 




Ibzan 7,Elon 10, 




6 yrs. 


28 yrs. 




Abden 8, Eli 40 
yrs. 


13-16 


Samson 
20 yrs. 


Philistines 
40 yrs. 







The judges were not regularly successive. There 
were long gaps between them often. Only Gideon is 
succeeded by his son. Each of the great judges and 
some of the less important should have careful study. 
The periods of "Rest" were the delightful times in 
Israel. The book of Ruth pictures such a time. 



246 The Bible As It Is 

These have no history given of them. The best times 
are uneventful always and everywhere so far as the 
changes and disturbances are concerned which occupy 
the pages of history. The spiritual and social decline 
is seen in the last five chapters. They contain 
two narratives. The first that of Micah occurred 
near the beginning of the period and shows the decline 
of the priesthood and spiritual life. The second, the 
war with Benjamin, shows the coming of licentious- 
ness which was so common in that land and the civil 
war that ensued and the partial extermination of the 
tribe of Benjamin. 

The last of the invaders were the Philistines. Sam- 
son their great foe only partly subdued them. Eli who 
seems to have been both priest and judge was a failure 
as either. He was the last of the judges. In passing 
from the judges we notice they were of great variety 
of character and method. They were not what we 
would call spiritual men yet some of them, as Jephthah 
and Samson, are mentioned among the heroes of faith. 
(Heb. 11 132.) The period of the Judges was but pre- 
paratory for the Kingdom which came next. During 
the Judges Israel, notwithstanding all the adversi- 
ties, increased in number and extended in territory. 
The loose form of government under the Judges was 
suitable to the growing state of the nation and brought 
them all to see that something more firm and central 
was necessary to their safety and usefulness. This 
they found in the Kingdom. 



The Judges 247 

Spiritual Lessons. 

1. Israel in Canaan is typical of the oeliever in a 
state of rest and also of the dangers of that state. He 
has the world and flesh and the devil still to contend 
with. He is especially exposed to the contamination 
that comes from worldly society. "Come out from 
among them and be ye separate" is the only safety. 

2. We see the constant tendency of declension to 
follow revivals. It has ever been so. The enemy 
sows tares among the wheat. 

3. God's ways of blessing his church in times of 
need are seen in the great judges he raised up. The 
best gift God can give the church is a great and good 
leader. The Luthers and Wesleys-and Moodys have 
often brought the church out of low spiritual states. 

4. The certainty of chastisement to follow apostasy 
and backsliding is seen plainly in this narrative. 
Both the church and the individual may read the ways 
of God here. Backsliding is exceedingly unsafe. 

5. Israel in the Judges illustrates a new born soul 
abusing its liberty in Christ. "Every man doing that 
which is right in his own eyes." 

6. We see the vicissitudes of the believer. Such are 
not in Heaven yet. One may be "In Christ" and 
have many sad experiences. 

7. The various classes of enemies are represented 
here. Some of the oppressors were blood kindred as 
the Moabites, others not at all connected, as the Ca- 
naanites. Our temptations come from within and 



248 The Bible As It Is 

without. The Enemies in Canaan seem to represent 
the temptations that are in ourselves. The enemies 
from outside those that attack from without. 

8. The whole period shows the need of a King. 
At that time there was no King in Israel." God was 
preparing them for a king by showing them their 
state without one. So the believer comes to see by 
his failures that something stronger than himself 
is needed. He must be not only "In Christ" but 
"Christ in him. " This we will see was effected typi- 
cally when David came and his Messianic line of 
Kings. 

Some special lessons are : the danger of mixed mar- 
riages; in Christian work the weak things God uses; 
Gideon's lamps, pitcher and trumpets; the failure of 
vast opportunities as Samson's loss of power; the high- 
place woman had in Israel seen in "Deborah," the 
power of faith and courage seen in Shamgar. 



CHAPTER XVI 



RUTH 



Ruth is simply a chapter in the time of the Judges 
as already shown, probably she lived in the time of 
rest after Deborah and Barek's victory. One purpose 
of this book is declared in its last word, David. It 
gives the connecting link with the coming king and 
Kingdom, and gives also the story of one of the gentile 
ancestors of Christ. Besides all this it gives a beau- 
tiful picture of one of the many times of rest the land 
had when Israel was loyal to God and God was bless- 
ing Israel. It has a further use in its great moral 
and spiritual teachings and especially as a picture, in 
type, of the gospel. Its picture of the social state in 
the times of the Judges comes properly first. It gives 
first the account of one of the famines that fell upon the 
land because of their apostasy, one not recorded in 
Judges but threatened by God. (Lev. 26: 12-20.) It 
also gives us knowledge of the emigration of Israelites 
to distant lands where some permanently made their 
homes and carried the truth to some extent with them. 
It confirms also the existence and knowledge and 
observance to some extent of the Mosaic Law in the 
custom of attestation in releasing land rights by draw- 
ing off the shoe. (Ruth 4:7* Deut. 25: 7-10.) A 

249 



250 The Bible As It Is 

beautiful picture of harvest times and social life is 
also given us of that primitive time. 

We see also a beautiful type of the Gentile Church 
united to the parent stem, that Good Olive Tree Paul 
speaks of (Rom. 10). Here is foretold the ingather- 
ing of the Gentiles through the widowed nation of 
Israel in the later days. It shows Israel as the center 
of God's plan for the world. 

The spiritual teachings of an incidental kind are 
many. The most important centers about the inter- 
view between Ruth and Naomi, and in the beautiful 
words spoken by Ruth. (Ch. 1:16-17.) These words 
express the most astonishing devotion. She declares 
her intention to give up home and friends, native land 
and religion, to go with Naomi, to stay with her where- 
ever she goes or stays, to remain until she died and in 
the place Naomi dies there will Ruth die and in the 
place of her sepulcher there will she herself be buried. 
There is but one other instance of such devotion 
written and that is the words of Paul "It is no longer 
I that love but Christ that liveth in me." The motive 
is the same. It is spiritual consecration though dimly 
understood even by Ruth who made the consecration. 
We need to study the influences in Naomi that drew 
Ruth to her. We see an example of the power of 
true character, of true religion and especially of sym- 
pathy in drawing souls to Christ. 

The whole gospel is here in type. There is the 
wanderer from Israel like the Prodigal in the far 



Ruth 251 

country, there is the return of God, and the reception 
by the great Bridegroom and the gathered sheaves, 
and the restored inheritance and the Marriage Supper 
of the Lamb. 

THE OUTLINE. 

Ch. 1. The Migration and Return of the Family of 
Ruth. 

Ch. 2. Ruth among the Gleaners. 

Ch. 3. Ruth and Boaz. 

Ch. 4. Boaz Redemption of the Inheritance and 
Marriage to Ruth. Her Descendents. 



JAN 2 190? 



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